The present volume, based on a related conference in Erfurt, offers interdisciplinary insights on the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church or the Pan-Orthodox Council, convened on the island of Crete in June 2016. Although some Orthodox Churches finally declined to participate ¿ the most prominent being the Russian one ¿, the Council was a most significant development. It brought a considerable number of Orthodox Churches together and discussed crucial issues pertaining to today¿s Orthodox world. However, it also vividly revealed existing serious problems of inter-Orthodox communication and collaboration. The contributions in this volume shed light on main issues related to this Council and their multiple repercussions for Pan-Orthodox unity and the future of the Orthodox world.

Vasilios N. Makrides is a Professor of Religious Studies (specialising in Orthodox Christianity) at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Erfurt, Germany.
Sebastian Rimestad is a Senior Researcher with a focus on Christianity at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Leipzig, Germany.

Introduction (Makrides/Rimestad)

THE COUNCIL AND ITS PARTICIPANTS

The Idea of a Council (Valliere)

Local Orthodoxies and Universal Orthodoxy (Synek)

Ecclesiastical Geopolitics (Kalkandjieva)

Before and After the Council (Kyrlezhev/Shishkov)

'Alternative Orthodoxy' (Rimestad)

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH AND THE MODERN WORLD

Orthodox Vision of the Modern World (Agadjanian)

Orthodox Secularism (Papanikolaou)

The Challenges of Nationalism (Leustean)

Orthodox Diaspora(s) (Pnevmatikakis)

THE COUNCIL AND WORLD CHRISTIANITY

Vatican II and Crete I (De May)

The Council and Ecumenism (Noble)

Orthodoxy and Inter-Christian Dialogue (Kalaitzidis)