This is news relevant to us Catholic Christians. You and I tend to think of various “Protestants” or “Anglo-Catholics” (Episcopalians) as the Christians to whom we Catholics are most closely related. But in fact we are most closely related to the Eastern Orthodox, as we recognize that we share with them a valid apostolic succession of bishops and priests, and therefore a valid sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

One reason we tend not to think of the Eastern Orthodox as related to us is that they are so few in the territory of our local church. In the 28 counties of our diocese, I count no more than eight Eastern Orthodox worship communities.

(There also exist “Oriental Orthodox” Churches. These became distinctive at the time of the controversies about how to define the identity of Jesus, in the fourth and fifth centuries. These days the most prominent of the Oriental Orthodox are the Coptic Orthodox of Egypt. To the best of my knowledge, there are no Oriental Orthodox communities in our diocesan territory. Recent dialogue has revealed that currently there is little controversy between our churches about a theological definition of Jesus.)

In the political structure which was once the Roman Empire, tensions between Rome and the “New Rome” of Constantinople led to schism in 1054, with mutual excommunications being issued. (Fifty years ago, when Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople met in Jerusalem, the mutual excommunications were rescinded.)

The 2016 Council, officially called the “Holy and Great Synod,” has been summoned by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople (Istanbul), following a summit meeting of patriarchs held March 6-9 in Istanbul. The opening date of the Council has not yet been determined. The meeting place has been announced: the Hagia Irene (Holy Peace), a former church in a courtyard of Topkapi Palace, Istanbul. Captured by Ottomans in 1453, the Hagia Irene has had a variety of functions over the centuries and has most recently been used as a museum and concert hall. It is understood to have been the first church building of Constantinople.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches are in communion with one another. Even so, there are issues which they need to work on together. Reports indicate that there is tension over the dominance of the Russian Orthodox Church. The council should prove to be a demonstration of how the various patriarchs exercise a collegial style of governing.

It might be selfish of you, me, and Western Christianity in general, to hope that this council might embrace a method of calculating the date of Easter which could result in all Christians celebrating our most important feast on the same day. (It happens that this year, East and West observe Easter on the same day, April 20. This is not always the case; Eastern Easter can be one week later, or five weeks later, than Western Easter.) But certainly, if we as Christians want to take seriously the commission of Jesus to announce the good news of his resurrection to the world at large, a coordination of this celebration would be a helpful development.