Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon: We hope that all Local Churches will recognize the decisions of the Council in Crete

At an international conference in Chantilly, France, marking the tenth anniversary of the Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon emphasized the critical importance of putting the Council’s decisions into practice. According to Vima Orthodoxias, the hierarch urged that the Council’s documents not be allowed to remain merely archival records, accessible only on anniversary dates.

In his speech, Metropolitan Emmanuel compared the process of implementing the Council’s decisions to the Gospel parable of the seed, which requires time and careful tending to bear fruit. He identified two main obstacles along this path: impatience, which demands immediate results, and neglect, which turns important church texts into formal documents gathering dust on shelves.

In his address, he placed special emphasis on the need to convey the meaning of the conciliar texts to the faithful, clergy, catechists, and young people. The Metropolitan noted that the practical implementation of the decisions of the 2016 Council must be evident in everyday church life—from pastoral work with families to interaction with Orthodox communities in the diaspora.

The hierarch also expressed hope that in the future all Orthodox Churches, including those that did not participate in the Council of Crete, will be able to unite around its common heritage. Metropolitan Emmanuel expressed his gratitude to Patriarch Bartholomew for his tireless efforts to implement the Council’s decisions and thanked the conference participants, including representatives of various Christian denominations and leading theologians, for their constructive dialogue on the Church’s mission in the modern world.