Source: The National Herald By Associated Press Orthodox Christian leaders meeting for a historic council aimed at promoting unity have made a last-minute appeal to the Russian Orthodox Church and three others to attend the first such gathering in more than a millennium. A spokesman for Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I says the leaders of 10 out of the 14 Orthodox churches that were supposed to convene on the Greek island of Crete will seek to resolve the issues that made the four churches decide not to attend. Rev. John Chryssavgis says the church leaders met on Friday and would…

Source: Press Office of the Holy and Great Council Several events of the Holy and Great Council, an historic gathering for the Orthodox Christian Churches and the first of its kind in 1200 years, are available to the public via livestreaming. The following events will be available at https://www.holycouncil.org/live at the listed times in local Crete (UTC +3): Sunday, June 19, 8:00 — Orthros and Divine Liturgy of Holy Pentecost Monday, June 20, 11:00-14:00 — Opening Session of the Holy and Great Council Saturday, June 25, 17:00-19:30 — Closing Session of the Holy and Great Council Sunday, June 26, 8:00…

Source: Press Office of the Holy and Great Council On 16 June, leaders of the Orthodox Churches continued to arrive in Crete for the Holy and Great Council. His Beatitude Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos, stated this afternoon at the airport of Chania, Crete, that His Beatitude Patriarch of Jerusalem Theofilos, His Beatitude Patriarch of Serbia Irinej, and His Beatitude Archbishop of Albania, Anastasios, have all arrived, in order to participate in the Holy and Great Council, fulfilling a great mission. “We will make every effort to see to and approach the problems of all the world, of our…