Source: DECR Communication Service
January 28, 2016
Decision taken by the 5th Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference, Chambésy, October 10-17, 2015
Published in compliance with the resolution of the Synaxis of Primates of the Local Orthodox Churches, Chambésy, January 21-28, 2016.
Upon completing the work based on the text “Autonomy and the Means of Proclaiming It” that had been agreed upon and adopted by the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission at its session in Chambésy on December 9-17, 2009, the 5th Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference considered ecclesiological, canonical and pastoral aspects of the institution of autonomy and arrived at a unanimous Pan-Orthodox position on the matter.
The issues considered by the 5th Pan-Orthodox Pre-Council Conference, derived from the topics of the text adopted by the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission, relate to:
a) the concept, nature and various forms of the
institution of autonomy;
b) the prerequisites, on the basis of which a local Church
petitions the Autocephalous Church to which it belongs to
grant it autonomy;
c) the exclusive prerogative of the Autocephalous Church
to initiate and complete the process of granting autonomy
to a certain part of its canonical jurisdiction, provided
that no autonomous Churches shall be established in the
territory of the Orthodox diaspora; and
d) the impact of this ecclesiastical act on relations of
the proclaimed Autonomous Church both with the
Autocephalous Church to which it belongs, and with the
other Autocephalous Orthodox Churches.
1. The institution of autonomy is a canonical expression of the status of relative or partial independence that a certain ecclesiastical area has from the canonical jurisdiction of the Autocephalous Church to which it canonically belongs.
a) The application of this institution in church practice
has resulted in varying degrees of dependence of an
Autonomous Church upon the Autocephalous Church to which
it belongs.
b) The election of the head of an Autonomous Church shall
be approved or carried out by the competent ecclesiastical
authority of the Autocephalous Church, the primate of
which the Autonomous Church shall commemorate and be in
canonical relationship to.
c) Functioning of the institution of autonomy implies that
it shall be used in church practice in various forms, as
defined by the degree of an Autonomous Church’s
dependence on the Autocephalous Church.
d) In some forms of autonomy, the degree of dependence of
an Autocephalous Church shall be expressed through its
primate’s participation in the Synod of the
Autocephalous Church.
2. The initiation and completion of the process of proclaiming autonomy to a part of its canonical jurisdiction, to which the Church belongs, having been proclaimed autonomous, is the canonical prerogative of the Autocephalous Church. Accordingly,
a) If a local Church requesting autonomy fulfills all
necessary ecclesiastical and pastoral prerequisites, it
shall appeal to the Autocephalous Church to which it
belongs, explaining the serious reasons prompting such an
appeal.
b) Upon receiving the appeal, the Autocephalous Church
shall consider all its prerequisites and reasons, and make
a decision whether or not to grant autonomy. Should the
decision be favorable, the Autocephalous Church shall
issue a Tomos defining the territorial boundaries of the
Autonomous Church, as well as its relations with the
Autocephalous Church to which it belongs, in accordance
with the established criteria of ecclesiastical
Tradition.
c) The primate of the Autocephalous Church shall inform
the Ecumenical Patriarchate and other Autocephalous
Orthodox Churches of the proclamation of the Autonomous
Church.
d) The Autonomous Church maintains inter-Orthodox,
inter-Christian and inter-religious relations via the
Autocephalous Church that granted it autonomy.
e) Each Autocephalous Church may only grant autonomy to a
Church that acts within its geographical boundaries. No
Autonomous Church shall be established in the territory of
the Orthodox diaspora, except by pan-Orthodox consent
mediated by the Ecumenical Patriarch in accordance with
pan-Orthodox procedure.
f) Should two Autocephalous Churches grant autonomous
status within one and the same geographical ecclesiastical
area, with resulting disagreements concerning these
autonomies, the parties involved shall appeal, together or
separately, to the Ecumenical Patriarch to come to a
canonical solution to the question in accordance with
pan-Orthodox procedure.
3. The implications arising from the proclamation of autonomy concerning the Autonomous Church and its relationship with the Autocephalous Church are as follows:
a) The head of the Autonomous Church shall only
commemorate the primate of the Autocephalous Church;
b) The name of the head of the Autonomous Church shall not
be included in the Diptychs;
c) The Autonomous Church shall receive Holy Chrism from
the Autocephalous Church;
d) Bishops of the Autonomous Church shall be elected and
appointed by its own competent ecclesiastical authority.
In the event that the Autonomous Church finds this
absolutely impossible, it shall receive assistance from
the Autocephalous Church to which it belongs.
Chambésy, October 15, 2015
