DELIBERATIONS OF THE GREAT SYNOD OF ORTHODOXY ON TUESDAY, 21 JUNE 2016
On the morning of Tuesday, the 8th/21st of June 2016, divine Liturgy was held in Arabic at the Church of the Dormition of Theotokos, Gonia, under the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
The service was performed by the Spiritual Father at the Monastery of the Life-giving Spring in Dibin, Jordan, by Archimandrite Christophoros, as presbyter Issa Mousleh, the Patriarchate’s liaison with Arabic-speaking media, sang in Arabic. The Liturgy was attended by His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, the Patriarch of Serbia, the Archbishop of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and the Entourages of the aforementioned Heads of Churches.
The service was followed by a Session of the Great Synod, during which the text entitled “The Orthodox Diaspora” was discussed. In the course of discussion, the “Bishopric Assemblies” in various countries i.e. the USA, Germany and France, hosting Orthodox Diaspora, presented their work. The presentation included the problems facing the Greek, Russian and Romanian diasporas, the presence of Orthodoxy, the accession of non-Orthodox to the Orthodox Church, interreligious marriages, school education and the education of the youth.
The comments on the situation of the national Orthodox Churches in the Diaspora and the challenges facing the competent Metropolitans and the Heads of Churches were then referred to the Secretariat for consideration and for drafting a text to be submitted to the Heads for approval and signing.
From the Secretariat-General