SYNAXIS OF THE PRIMATES OF ORTHODOX
CHURCHES
Chambésy, 21-28 January 2016
ORGANIZATION AND WORKING
PROCEDURE OF THE HOLY AND GREAT COUNCIL OF THE
ORTHODOX CHURCH
*The following English text is a working
translation. An official English
translation is forthcoming.
** This document was not signed by the
Patriarchate of Antioch.
Article 1- Introduction
By the grace of the Holy Trinity, the Holy
and Great Council is an authentic expression
of the canonical tradition and diachronic
ecclesiastical practice—through the work of
the synodal system—in One Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church, and is convened by His
All-Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch, with
the consent of Their Beatitudes, the
Primates of all the universally recognized
autocephalous Local Orthodox Churches; and
it shall be comprised of members appointed
to each Church delegation.
Article 2 - The Convocation of the
Council
The convocation of a Council shall be
announced by the Ecumenical Patriarch
through Patriarchal Letters issued to all
the Primates of the local autocephalous
Churches. Through these letters, he shall:
-
Announce the completion of the
pre-conciliar preparation of the Council’s
agenda decided on the pan-Orthodox level;
-
Determine the date and location of the
Council, with the consent of Their
Beatitudes, the Primates of all the local
autocephalous Orthodox Churches, and
-
Request from the local autocephalous
Orthodox Churches, according to the
pan-Orthodox agreements reached at the
Synaxes of Their Beatitudes the
Primates, to appoint their representatives
to the Council.
Article 3 -
Memberships of the Council
Members of the Council shall be those
hierarchs designated by each autocephalous
Orthodox Church as its representatives:
-
The number of members has been determined
by the Synaxis of the Primates of
all the local autocephalous Orthodox
Churches (Phanar, March 2014).
-
The delegations may be accompanied by
special consultants—clergy, monastics or
laypeople—but their number may not exceed
six (6). Invitations are also extended to
three (3) assistants (stewards) for each
autocephalous Orthodox Church.
-
The special consultants may attend the
Council’s plenary sessions—without the
right to speak or to vote—and are expected
to assist the Council’s Secretariat or the
Council’s Committees, with the right to
speak and exercise special functions
assigned to them.
-
During the Council’s proceedings, each
Primate may have by his side one or, if
possible, two hierarchs from his Church’s
delegation. Due to his numerous duties,
the Chairman may have by his side two such
members and one secretary. All of the
consultants shall be seated behind the
Primates;
-
In the event that a Primate of a Church is
unable to personally attend the Council or
any of its sessions, a representative
shall be appointed, according to Church
practice, and he shall assume his seat.
Article 4 - Chairmanship of the
Council
The chairmanship of the Council shall be
exercised by:
-
The Ecumenical Patriarch. The Primates of
other Local Orthodox Churches shall be
placed on his right and left according to
the diptychs of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate.
-
The delegate member of the local Orthodox
Churches shall sit, according to the order
of the Holy Diptychs, in assigned seats in
the sacred space of the Council, with the
special consultants of each delegation
placed next to them to facilitate their
collaboration.
Article 5 - The Chairman’s
Responsibilities
The Chairman of the Council:
-
Announces the Council’s convening and
conclusion
-
Works together with the Primates of the
autocephalous Orthodox Churches to plan
the work of the Council’s agenda items and
immediately settle all procedural or
practical matters of the Council.
-
Approves the liturgical program of the
Council’s members
-
Guides the discussions at each session by
offering brief remarks, according to each
circumstance, ensuring the greatest
coordination of discussions according to
the Council’s mission
-
Extends the floor to members of the
Council and guarantees strict observance
and correct application of the Articles of
the present Procedures in an
effort to ensure proper progress and
ecclesiastical order of the proceedings
-
Coordinates the work of the Council’s
Pan-Orthodox Secretariat
Article 6 - Secretariat of the
Council
The Secretariat of the Council is
pan-Orthodox and consists of multiple
members:
-
It shall be comprised by one hierarch from
each delegation and the Secretary of the
Council’s Preconciliar Preparatory
Committee, who supervises the work of the
Pan-Orthodox Secretariat.
-
The members of the Secretariat shall be
assisted by expert advisors (clergy,
monastic, or laypersons), selected from
among the consultants of the delegations
of the local Orthodox Churches, who shall
support the manifold work of the
Pan-Orthodox Secretariat. The number of
such advisers may not exceed two (2) from
each delegation.
Article 7 – Duties of the Secretariat
of the Council
The responsibilities of Secretariat of the
Council include:
-
Compiling files with documents—in the
official working languages—of the
preconciliar process needed for the
preparation of the texts associated with
the Council’s agenda
-
Taking Minutes during the
Council’s proceedings
-
Assisting the work of the
Plenary and that of the Council’s
Committees
-
Ensuring proper implementation of
simultaneous translation—in the official
working languages—of the Council’s
discussions
-
Establishing
Special Committees that will
both, prepare Press Releases to
directly inform the public of the progress
of the Council’s work, and prepare the
Council’s Message
-
Updating, as necessary, the
Observers of other Christian
Churches or Confessions by providing them
with the files related to the Council’s
agenda
-
Immediately addressing all unforeseen
practical or procedural issues
Article 8 - The Work of the Council
The work of the Council shall begin and
conclude with the celebration of the
pan-Orthodox Divine Liturgy, presided over
by the Ecumenical Patriarch, with the
participation of all the Primates of
autocephalous Orthodox Churches or their
representatives, in accordance with the holy
Diptychs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
-
According to the daily agenda, the texts
unanimously approved at Pan-Orthodox
Preconciliar Meetings and at
Synaxes of the Primates of the
autocephalous Orthodox Churches shall be
considered in Plenary sessions and/or in
Synodal Committees.
-
Except for the Council’s final
Message, new matters or those
topics that were not unanimously approved
during Pan-Orthodox Preconciliar Meetings
or during Synaxes of the Primates
cannot be submitted to the Council for
consideration. The draft of the Council’s
final Message shall be prepared
by a Special Pan-Orthodox Committee a week
before the convening of the Council and
will be subject to the approval of the
Primates of the Orthodox Churches.
-
With the exception of the Council’s
opening and closing sessions, all
proceedings shall be held in closed-door
session.
Article 9 – Discussions
-
Discussions shall be held in the official
languages of the Council, namely, Greek,
Russian, French and English, as well as in
Arabic as a working language. Simultaneous
translations will be provided.
-
Topics shall be discussed according to the
order in which they appear on the
Council’s agenda; discussions shall be
strictly limited to the topic defined for
each session.
-
Off-topic interventions are forbidden and
will cause the speaker to lose his right
to the floor, unless the intervention
correctly relates to a procedural or
personal matter; in this case, he who asks
for the floor must indicate the Procedural
provision that has been breached.
Article 10 - Participation of Members
in Discussions
Discussions during the Council’s proceedings
are open; however, no one may speak without
first requesting and receiving approval by
the Council’s Chairman.
-
A member of the Council who wishes to
participate in the discussion on a
particular matter shall submit a written
notice to the authorized member of the
Council’s Secretariat. This Secretariat
member shall compile and prioritize a list
of those who wish to speak and present it
to the Council’s Chairman.
-
An intervention by each speaker may not
exceed ten (10) minutes; in case of a
reprise, whenever clarification is needed
or if the Council’s Chairman deems it
necessary or helpful, this may not exceed
five (5) minutes. The Primates of the
autocephalous Orthodox Churches shall have
twice as much time for their
interventions.
-
Irrelevant dialogues and personal disputes
between members of the Council are
forbidden since these are not only
unrelated, but also contrary, to the
Council’s mission.
Article 11 - Modifications of Texts
Proposals to amend, correct, or append the
Synodal texts that were unanimously approved
by the Pan-Orthodox Preconciliar Meetings
and by Synaxes of the Primates, or
to the Council’s Message:
-
Shall be submitted by representatives of
the autocephalous Orthodox Churches to the
Council’s Secretariat and, in turn,
presented by the Chairman during plenary
session for official conciliar decision.
-
At the conclusion of deliberations, the
approval of any change is expressed,
according to pan-Orthodox procedures, by
the consensus of the delegations of each
autocephalous Orthodox Church. This means
that an amendment that is not approved
unanimously shall not be passed.
Article 12 - Voting and Approval of
Texts
Regarding the process of voting for issues
discussed and reviewed vis-à-vis the texts
of the Council:
-
In accordance with the unanimous decision
of the Sacred Synaxis of the
Primates of the Orthodox Churches, votes
shall be cast by each autocephalous
Orthodox Church and not by individual
members of their delegations.
-
The vote of each Church—and not that of
each member of its delegation—allows for
one or more hierarchs in the delegation of
a particular autocephalous Church to hold
a dissenting opinion on proposed
amendments or on entire texts. The
dissenting position shall be registered in
the Council’s Minutes.
-
Dissenting opinions shall at that point be
considered an internal matter of the
autocephalous Church to which the
hierarchs in question belong. In such
instances, the Church may cast an
affirmative vote based on the principle of
internal majority, which is expressed by
its Primate. For this reason, the
necessary time and space must be afforded
to each delegation, granting it the
opportunity to consider this issue
internally.
Article 13 - Adoption and Signing of
Texts
The texts on the Council’s daily agenda that
are approved unanimously shall be produced
in the four official languages and shall
possess the following authority:
-
The Primates of the autocephalous Orthodox
Churches shall initial every page of each
text; they shall initial every page of
each official translation. The Chairman
and all the members of the Council shall
sign the final page of each text.
-
Possessing pan-Orthodox authority, the
Council’s signed decisions and the
Message of the Holy and Great
Council shall be circulated by the
Ecumenical Patriarchate by Patriarchal
Letters to the Primates of the
autocephalous Orthodox Churches, who, in
turn, communicate these decisions within
their respective Churches.
Article 14 - Participation of
Observers
Observers from other Christian Churches or
Confessions, as well leaders of
inter-Christian organizations, shall be
present at the opening and closing sessions
of the Council but will not possess the
right to vote or speak.
Article 15 – Publishing of the
Minutes
According to the decision of the Primates of
all the autocephalous Orthodox Churches, the
special
Pan-Orthodox Committee for Minutes of the Council’s Secretariat shall
oversee the digital recording and
transcription of the Council’s Minutes,
allowing for their publication in the
official languages and their dissemination
to every autocephalous Orthodox Church.
Article 16 – The Media and Press
-
By decision of the Chairman, and with the
consent of the other Primates of the
Orthodox Churches, a
Synodal Committee—consisting of
fourteen (14) members (one from each
autocephalous Church)—shall be established
and will provide regular updates to the
mass media regarding the progress of the
Council’s work. This Committee shall be
supported by special consultants.
-
Journalists properly accredited by the
Secretariat for the Preparation of the
Holy and Great Council may only be present
at the opening and closing sessions of the
Council.
Chambésy, 27 January 2016
† Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Chairman
† Metropolitan Gabriel of Leontopolis
(representative of Patriarch Theodoros of
Alexandria)
† Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina
(representative of Patriarch Theophilos of
Jerusalem)
† Patriarch Kirill of Moscow
† Patriarch Irinej of Serbia
† Patriarch Daniel of Romania
† Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria
† Patriarch Ilia of Georgia
† Archbishop Chrysostomos of Nova Justiniana
and All Cyprus
† Metropolitan Germanos of Ilias
(representative of Archbishop Ieronymos of
Athens and All Greece)
† Bishop George of Siemiatycze
(representative of Metropolitan Sawa of
Warsaw and All Poland)
† Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës,
and All Albania
† Metropolitan Rastislav of Prešov and All
Czech Lands and Slovakia