The “Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church” will be held in Crete, June 16-27. The Council, which will be attended by the leaders of all of the world’s 14 Orthodox bodies (though two are threatening boycott), is being described as the Orthodox equivalent of “Vatican II.” The issues to be taken up will reportedly include ecumenical relations, how to handle marriage to someone who is not Orthodox, problems of ethnic identity, achieving greater unity, and dealing with various contemporary questions. After the jump, a story from a Catholic site with an interview of a key Orthodox player.

Orthodox readers, can you tell us more about this? This wouldn’t have the authority of the early church councils, would it?, since it isn’t “ecumenical.” But how would this fit in with its “conciliar” theology? Do you expect the council to take up issues that are roiling the Western churches, such as homosexuality, gender issues, etc.? Is the council likely to “modernize” Orthodoxy, as Vatican II did to Roman Catholicism?

UPDATE: Five church bodies are refusing to come, including the biggest one, the Russian Orthodox Church. So nearly half of the world’s Orthodox churches representing a majority of Orthodox Christians won’t be there. For a good discussion of this disunity, including the big issue of the conflict between Russia and Constantinople for leadership in Orthodoxy, go here. (HT: Joe & McCain)

UPDATE: The Council will go on as planned, despite the absence of the Russians. The Serbian church decided to attend after all, so only four will be absent.

From John L. Allen, Jr., Leading cleric says Orthodox Church’s ‘Vatican II’ is a go – Crux Now:

In a sense, the “Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church”, conceived as a gathering of all the heads of the 14 independent Orthodox churches around the world in Crete June 16-27, has been at least a millennium in the making. More proximately, planning has been underway since 1961, meaning more than a half-century. As a result, it’s perhaps no surprise there have been a few hiccups along the way. Recently, two of the fourteen Orthodox churches have floated boycotting – the Bulgarians, because they’re upset over some of the documents up for discussion and also the seating arrangements, and the Patriarchate of Antioch, over a jurisdictional dispute involving Qatar. On Monday, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, traditionally the “first among equals” in the Orthodox world, issued a call to all Orthodox leaders to show up and to uphold rules for the meeting agreed upon in January 2016. According to the Rev. John Chryssavgis, the archdeacon and theological adviser to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who will serve on a drafting committee for the council’s final message, the summit is going ahead no matter what. “The council is still on,” Chryssavgis told Crux in a June 6 interview, just ahead of his departure for Crete. “If one or more churches don’t attend, all the decisions made will still hold and be binding for all Orthodox churches.” While conceding there are probably “more differences than similarities” between the Great Council and the Second Vatican Council, Chryssavgis said he hopes the council in Crete may have an impact on Orthodoxy similar to that of Vatican II on Catholicism – especially, he said, in the press for unity, within Orthodoxy and also with other churches and the wider world. “Unity is an objective, not a given. It’s something we aspire to,” Chryssavgis said. “It may be there spiritually and liturgically and sacramentally, but to make it visible is hard, painful, and slow work, all of which takes time.” [Keep reading. . .]

See also this commentary from a Roman Catholic point of view.