Today, 9 March 2014, the Orthodoxy Sunday, the Primates of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches participating in the Synaxis session held from 6 – 8 March at the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the church of Saint Great Martyr George of Phanar district (Istanbul).
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by 12 Primates of Orthodox Churches:
+ Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople,
+ Teodor II, Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa,
+ Teohilus III, Patriarch of Jerusalem,
+ Kiril, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia,
+ Irineu, Patriarch of Serbia,
+ Daniel, Patriarch of Romania,
+ Neofit, Patriarch of Bulgaria,
+ Ilia, Patriarch of Georgia,
+ Chrysostom II, Archbishop of Cyprus,
+ Jeronim, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece,
+ Sava, Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland,
+ Anastasie, Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania.
After reading the Holy Gospel, Archimandrite Bartholomew Samaras, Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate read the common communiqué of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches. After the Divine Liturgy, the Primates celebrated a memorial service (Trisaghion) for the late Orthodox patriarchs and for the rest of the souls of those fallen asleep in the right Orthodox faith.
To end with, a procession with icons followed in the yard of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and then the Primates of the Orthodox Churches blessed the people from the balcony of the Patriarchal Palace.
We learn more details from Aurel Moisuc, Trinitas Radio reporter present at the event: “Each hierarch had an icon in his hands, and in the end His Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch read the blessing icons prayer and blessed those present. During the Divine Liturgy, the document presenting the conclusions of the Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches was read. The Pan-Orthodox Synod was scheduled to be held in 2016, in the old city of Constantinople. The working commissions of the departments which will analyse and prepare the previous works were also set up. The conclusions comprise the themes of the Pan-Orthodox themes which will be resumed, analysed and discussed within the preparatory Councils. Tonight, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel will pay a visit to the Romanian community of Istanbul, to the church of Saint Martyr Paraschevi of Istanbul, more exactly.
