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<\/a>Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of Gonia. PHOTO: \u00a9 POLISH ORTHODOX CHURCH\/JAROSLAW CHARKIEWICZ.<\/p><\/div> Expectations were high for the Council that had been being prepared since 1961<\/strong> when the first Pan-Orthodox conference was convened by Patriarch Athenagoras I. The title was quite meaningful: \u201cHe called all to unity\u201d from the Pentecost Anthem of the Byzantine Rite. Driven by the need to face the challenges of the new millennium, the Orthodox Churches share a desire to move towards a more explicit collegiality and sharing, as well as to reaffirm the unity of the Orthodox Church. This Council marks a new openness:<\/strong> to ecumenism and interreligious dialogue; to new scientific and technological discoveries; to spending energy on the question of ecology and to the drama of immigration and the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. It opens \u201cthe horizon on the current multifaceted world\u201d. Convoked by unanimous agreement amongst the leaders of 14 Orthodox Churches<\/strong> during their gathering in Chamb\u00e9sy, Switzerland, last January, it was marked from the start by great suffering: the physical absence of 4 of those 14 Churches. The Russian Orthodox Church has not yet made a pronouncement regarding the Council and is waiting for the reunion of the Sacred Synod in July to give an assessment of the recent event. There were also 15 observers from other Christian Churches at the Synod,<\/strong> who attended the opening and closing sessions. Non-Orthodox Christians from around the world were praying for this important event in the Orthodox Church: \u201cPlease pray for the Pan-Orthodox Council, I ask it of you as if it were a Council of my own Church, because it is my Church at this moment,\u201d Maria Voce had remarked to a group of focolarini from different Churches who were gathered together in Rocca di Papa, Italy at the end of May. What many people are highlighting is not so much the final decisions<\/strong> \u2013 the six documents that were signed by the Patriarchs on the mission in the contemporary world, the importance of fasting, the relationship of the Orthodox Church with the rest of the Christian world, marriage, the Orthodox diaspora and the autonomy of the Churches \u2013 but the very nature of the Synod, that is, the fact that it was held and that this encounter had finally taken place. There is also hope that the Synod may not remain an isolated event, but become an ongoing practice of the Church on its journey. On the return flight from Armenia, Pope Francis responded to a journalist\u2019s question<\/strong> about how the Pope would judge the Pan-Orthodox Synod that had just concluded. The Pope answered: \u201cA positive judgement! It was a step ahead \u2013 not a hundred percent \u2013 but a step ahead. The things they had to justify (in quotation marks), the absences, are sincere for them, they\u2019re things that will be resolved over time.\u201d \u201cThe mere fact that these autocephalous Churches came together in the name of Orthodoxy, (…) is extremely positive. I thank the Lord. The next time, they\u2019ll be more. Blessed be the Lord!\u201d And speaking to the Orthodox delegation for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis cited the Pan-Orthodox Council to invoke \u201cabundant fruits for the good of the Church\u201d. Encyclical of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church<\/a> <\/p>\n