CHAMBESY: October 12, 2015
A Delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church Participates in the Fifth Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference

On October 11, 2015, the Orthodox Center of the Constantinople Patriarchate in Chambesy, near Geneva, Switzerland, opened the Fifth Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference with the celebration of Divine Liturgy.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, forming the delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Ilarion of Volokolamsk, Head of the Department of External Church Relations are: His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia); Vice President of the DECR Protopriest Nikolai Balashov; Archimandrite Irinei (Steenberg) of the Western American Diocese of ROCOR, and Priest Anatoly Churyakov, member of the DECR, acting as interpreter.

Celebrating Liturgy in the Church of Holy Apostle Paul were His Eminence Metropolitan Jeremiah of Switzerland (Constantinople Patriarchate), Secretary for the organization of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, and the heads of the delegations of the Local [National] Orthodox Churches: His Eminence Metropolitan Sergios of Cape Town (Alexandrian Patriarchate; His Eminence Metropolitan Isychios of Captitolias (Jerusalem Patriarchate); His Eminence Metropolitan Ilarion of Volokolamsk; His Eminence Metropolitan Amphilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral Lands (Serbian Patriarchate); His Eminence Metropolitan Niphon of Tyrkoviste (Romanian Patriarchate); His Eminence Metropolitan Ioannof Varna and Veliki Preslav (Bulgarian Patriarchate); His Eminence Metropolitan Georgios of Paphos (Cyprian Orthodox Church); His Eminence Chrysostom of Messina (Greek Orthodox Church); His Grace Bishop John of Korce (Albanian Orthodox Church); His Grace Bishop Georgy of Semjaty (Polish Orthodox Church); His Eminence Archbishop Georgi of Mikhalov-Kosic (Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia); and priestly delegates. During Liturgy, His Eminence Metropolitan John of Pergamon, Chairman of the Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Commission (Constantinople Patriarchate) partook of the Holy Gifts along with the other delegates.

Prayers were intoned and sung in Greek, Arabic, Church Slavonic, Serbian, Albanian, Czech, French and English.

The Fifth Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference was convened in accordance with the decision of the Assembly of Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches held in Istanbul on March 6-9, 2014, with the aim of editing documents proposed by the Special Inter-Orthodox Commission for the Pan-Orthodox Council, and to adopt the draft document “Autonomy and Means of Its Declaration,” prepared by the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission in 2009.
The work of the Fifth Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference will begin with a plenary session on Monday, October 12.

Department of External Church Relations/Patriarchia.ru