The first Pan-Orthodox Council for 1,200 years ended with hopes for the future

The Orthodox Church has held its first Holy and Great Council in over 1,200 years. If its hierarchs want it to be a success, they will have to follow up soon with another one. “Soon” is a relative term in the Orthodox Church, where ancient debates seem as if they took place yesterday, and preparations for this summit took 55 years before the gathering could open last week in western Crete.

The word “success” also comes with qualifications because this council was not complete — four of the 14 autocephalous Orthodox Churches refused to attend. Its debates behind closed doors laid bare deep divisions in a tradition-bound Christian family struggling with modernity.

But the Orthodox have taken the all-important first step and seem ready to continue on this path. Several hierarchs have called for further summits, and Romania’s Patriarch Daniel has offered to host the next one in seven years’ time. It may take up to a decade before the primates come together again, hopefully in full number, but that seems brief in view of the challenges they face.