{"id":378616,"date":"2022-06-28T13:10:47","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T10:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=378616"},"modified":"2022-06-28T13:10:47","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T10:10:47","slug":"6-years-since-the-holy-and-great-council-professing-the-true-faith-with-humility-and-christian-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/6-years-since-the-holy-and-great-council-professing-the-true-faith-with-humility-and-christian-love\/","title":{"rendered":"6 years since the Holy and Great Council: Professing the true faith with humility and Christian love"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Sunday marked six years since the conclusion of the works of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, which brought together hierarchs of ten of the fourteen autocephalous Orthodox Churches on the island of Crete. Both before and after the Council, the Patriarch of Romania explained that its works did not focus on liturgical or dogmatic issues but the Orthodox mission in a globalized and secularized world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before attending the Holy and Great Council, the Patriarch of Romania asked the monastics and lay faithful of the Romanian Orthodox Church to pray for the enlightenment of the participants.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot everyone can participate, but everyone has the responsibility to contribute, advise and pray so that the Holy Spirit, and not a worldly spirit, will guide the works of the future Pan-Orthodox Council,\u201d His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in June 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest and most precious gift of the spiritual life of the Church is the unity of faith, which is expressed in sacramental unity, but also in the missionary and pastoral ministry of the Church carried out today in the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And, \u201cunlike Ecumenical Councils, this is not a council that debates a particular dogma or particular new teaching of faith but shows the need to strengthen us in our faith, spiritual life and the intensification of the Orthodox mission in the world. So, it will be more of a missionary-pastoral council with social implications, not a dogmatic, liturgical council or a council to change the holy canons,\u201d His Beatitude said<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are dealing with a world in which atheism is gaining more and more ground, and we must affirm the importance of the Orthodox faith for the salvation of the soul and life in harmony, in the family, in the Church, in society. Therefore, there is a need for a more intense profession of the faith together,\u201d Patriarch Daniel explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

The proceedings of the Council<\/span><\/h1>\n

Twenty-five hierarchs from Romania participated. The works took place from June 16 to June 26, 2016, preceded by a working committee meeting from June 9 to June 16 to draft the Message of the Holy and Great Council.<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on this text, the Holy and Great Council formulated the Encyclical of the Holy and Great Council<\/a>, a complex and final document that gives the key to all adopted documents.<\/span><\/p>\n

The final texts of the Message and Encyclical were approved at the working session on June 24, 2016. The message\u2019s text was read at the Divine Liturgy celebrated after the Holy and Great Council on All Saints Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The main themes addressed by the Holy and Great Council included:<\/span><\/p>\n