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March 11, 2023

Holy Synod of the Church of Albania: "A Pan-Orthodox response is required as soon as possible"

 
On the occasion of recent publications on the Internet, the Church of Albania clarifies that it will not be drawn into the method of counter-complaints, rebuttals, insults, inaccuracies and slanders, as attempted by incompetent laymen on Internet sites.

The Albanian Orthodox Church, therefore, declares in all directions that it is not prepared to publicize on the internet and in general in the mass media its opinions and judgments, regarding the attitude and behavior of other local Orthodox Churches and their Primates.

The painful ecclesiastical problems that have arisen in recent years and recently in Africa, as a result of the clear cracks in the relations of the local Orthodox Churches and the widespread concern of the Orthodox believers, cannot be solved by the method of chain retaliation by specific Churches and by collecting a consensus from the rest through the mass media.

The responsible opinion of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania is expressed through official ecclesiastical correspondence, in the announcements of the Archsecretariat and will be directly submitted to the competent body, the Pan-Orthodox Synod or Synaxis, which, in accordance with the principle of synodality, is the only one empowered to resolve basic problems and to ensure the unity and peace of the worldwide Orthodox Church.

As the unprecedented calamity of Orthodoxy in Ukraine intensifies and the unspeakable suffering of the Orthodox believers peaks, a Pan-Orthodox response is required as soon as possible.

A Pan-Orthodox Synod, as is known, is convened by the Ecumenical Patriarch, which convenes and acts, even if some local Churches are absent, as was the case with the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church in Crete in 2016.

Tirana, 11 March 2023

The Archsecretariat of the Holy Synod of the
Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania
 
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.