Thursday, 19 May 2016, professors and students of Patriarch Justinian Faculty of Orthodox Theology met in the Amphitheatre of Dumitru Staniloae Centre for Continuous Formation of Bucharest in a conference on the preparation and themes of the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church – as Marius Gheorghe, Trinitas TV reporter informed.
The guest of the event was Rev. Prof. Dr. Viorel Ioniţă from the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Bucharest, honorary patriarchal counsellor, who underlined the fact that the texts submitted to the approval of the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church are not designed to change anything from a dogmatic point of view, but to affirm the synodality and unity of the universal Orthodox Church.
“This synod should not be imagined as an ecumenical synod meant to establish some dogmas, but, by God’s help, we hope that this Synod should adopt some texts with pastoral character, profound, rich in theological meaning, and useful for today’s faithful, for today’s shepherds. We also hope to be able to answer, in this way, from a missionary, pastoral point of view, and even from the point of view of the discussions with other religions on a pan-Orthodox basis and not according to our own opinion, but submitted to some lines, to some criteria established by the entire Orthodox Church”, Rev. Viorel Ioniţă explained.
The Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Rev. Prof. Dr. Ştefan Buchiu, emphasised the fact that the Synod of this year expresses the unitary voice of the Church in a synodal manner.
“Orthodoxy is not only diverse – we have the diversity of the local Churches – but it is one and unitary. This synod expresses the unitary voice, but in a synodal manner and hence we learn that we are all co-responsible in Orthodoxy. Certainly, the last word belongs to the entire Orthodox Church who will assume what the Holy and Great Synod in Crete will discuss and decide”, Rev. Ştefan Buchiu showed.
The Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church will take place at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, from 16-27 June 2016.
