Pat. Bartholomew meets with members of Church of Czech Lands and Slovakia
The Patriarch of Constantinople departed for Prague to participate in proceedings of the annual international conference “Forum 2000”.
On October 14, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople paid a working visit to Prague where he will make a presentation at the international conference “Forum 2000” dedicated to the current situation in the field of human rights and the development of civil society, as well as meet with representatives of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. It is reported by Orthodox Times.
The participation of the patriarch in the conference is held at the invitation of the Executive Director of the Forum 2000 Foundation Jakub Klepal.
During his brief stay in the Czech Republic, the Ecumenical Patriarch will be accompanied by Metropolitan Emmanuel of France and Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria.
“He will also be in contact with competent officials of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia,” the report emphasizes.
We remind you that earlier Patriarch Bartholomew thanked the Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Ieronymos, for the support of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the decision of the Church of Greece regarding the OCU. According to some experts, this message from the head of Phanar should be taken as “bell-ringing” to other Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches, who must not delay with their decision on the “Ukrainian issue”.
As reported by the UOJ, Metropolitan Rostislav (Gont) of the Czech Lands and Slovakia previously stated about a point-blank attitude of the Czech Church to schism: “It has no place in church life. Any schism can be healed only by repentance and return to the canonical Church.”
