Browsing: Orthodox Synod

Source: The National Herald By Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians on Wednesday said a historic meeting of church leaders — the first in more than a millennium — will take place despite a pullout by Russia, the fourth Orthodox church to say it won’t attend the June gathering in Crete. Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who ranks as “the first among equals,” said he hopes the Russian church and three others who have chosen not to come will change their minds. The weeklong Holy and Great Council, which is to begin…