Presidium of the Russian Orthodox Church Inter-Council Presence holds its session

On 28 January 2015, the Presidium of the Inter-Council Presence began its work at the Patriarchal and Synodal residence in St. Daniel’s Monastery in Moscow under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

The Presidium will approve the agenda of the plenary session of the Inter-Council Presence due to take place on 29-30 January 2015, topics for the commissions for 2015-16, and consider other issues.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church opened the session, welcomed the participants, including new members of the presidium attending it by rotation, and said that since the last meeting in 2012 the Holy Synod has adopted five documents made by the Inter-Council Presence’s members, and I would note with satisfaction that the Presence is bringing a considerable contribution to the advancement of conciliar thought and elaboration of the documents on the basis of which the life of the Church can be developed.

‘Today we shall determine new topics for the next two or three years and the priority of their consideration.

‘The Inter-Orthodox Presence has a task of promoting the culture of discussion within the Church. Our plenary sessions play an important part in it, as all members can speak freely. The experience has shown that though we discussed serious and even controversial subjects, our discussions have been always held in the atmosphere of mutual respect and by the grace of God has brought about positive results.’