The ecclesiology of the document “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the rest of the Christian world” in light of patristic teaching on the church and its mission

The document “Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World”, which was adopted at the Council of the Primates and Representatives of ten autocephalous Orthodox Churches on Crete, which took place between June 17 and 26, 2016, has become controversial. It has been reported that many of the bishops present at the Council refused to sign the text of the document. Moreover, according to one participant of the Council, precisely the “problematic nature of this document” became “the first and foremost reason behind the decision of four Orthodox Patriarchates not to atend the Council.” It is evident that this controversy demands a thorough theological analysis of the document in question and an evaluation of the extent to which its ecclesiology corresponds to patristic teaching on the Church and its mission, including with respect to the rest of the Christian world. In this article, a sketch of such an analysis is undertaken and presented.