The Primates of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches, who currently participate at the Synaxis held in Chambésy – Geneva, concelebrated Sunday, 24 January 2016, the Divine Liturgy at St Paul Church of the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, Switzerland.
The following Primates of the Orthodox Churches are present at the Synaxis in Geneva:
† Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople,
† Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and all Africa,
† Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and all Palestine,
† Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia,
† Patriarch Irinej of Serbia,
† Patriarch Daniel of Romania,
† Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria,
† Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia,
† Archbishop Chrysostom II of Cyprus,
† Archbishop Anastasios of Albania
† Metropolitan Rastislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
Three Heads of Churches could not attend the Synaxis: Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens (for personal reasons), Patriarch John X of Antioch and Metropolitan Sawa of Poland (for health reasons). Nevertheless, all three Churches were represented by delegations: the Patriarchate of Antioch was represented by His Eminence Silouan, Metropolitan of Great Britain and Ireland, His Eminence Isaak, Metropolitan of Germany and Central Europe, and Rev. Fr. Porphyrios George; the Church of Greece was represented by Their Eminences Metropolitans Germanos of Elis, Chrysostom of Peristerion and Chrysostom of Messinia; while the Church of Poland was represented by His Grace Bishop Jerzy (George) of Siemiatycze.
His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the Divine Liturgy at which all the other Primates of the Orthodox Churches concelebrated.
During the Divine Liturgy, the Ecumenical Patriarch delivered a homily noting that:
“Today we set a historic milestone. And we entrust the coming Holy and Great Synod to the prayer of many. We are faithful to the theological continuity of our faith in Jesus Christ that expresses itself both by the teaching of the apostolic Church and by that of the Fathers of the Church. If our Tradition is rich and very lively, then it must find the proper words to answer to the challenges of our time. (…) The Holy and Great Synod will mark a decisive stage in the life of our Church. It is not limited to the moment itself, but it should be understood as an ongoing process that started in the past and continues in the future. So, we are determined to proclaim the message of Orthodoxy”.
The Heads of the Orthodox Churches participate these days at the Synaxis for the final preparation of the Holy and Great Orthodox Synod, which is planned for the month of June 2016.
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