XXth General Assembly: new dates

The General Assembly of Syndesmos will take place 20-24 August 2020 in Strasbourg, France.
Participation is open for official delegates of all member movements.

For all matters concerning the General Assembly, we encourage using the dedicated email address: ga2019[at]syndesmos[.]org

XXth General Assembly of Syndesmos



Cancellation Notice

In view of the ongoing events in Lebanon, the General Assembly is postponed to a later date. 


OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

We are pleased to announce that the General Assembly of Syndesmos will take place 24-28 October 2019 in Broummana near Beirut, Lebanon. All member movements are invited to send their official delegates to contribute to this new milestone in the life of our Fellowship.

We encourage all members to communicate the names of their delegates using the dedicated email address: ga2019[at]syndesmos[.]org

This address is also to be used for all questions regarding the General Assembly (applying members, request for information or for updates, etc.) If your movement has not received the invitation via e-mail, please contact syndesmos@syndesmos.org to make sure we have the right contact information for your movement.

The Board of Administration

Syndesmos Summer Gathering 2017

APPLICATIONS OPEN!
 Syndesmos Summer Gathering 2017
on the theme:

Am I my brother's keeper? (Gen 4,9)

23 – 30 June 2017
Samos, Greece

 With the Kind Invitation and Blessing
of Metropolitan Efsevios of Samos and Ikaria

Applications
Post-deadline applications will be considered until 26 May 2017
(application forms to be sent to event@syndesmos.org)

download application form :

   

Participants needing visas are encouraged to send their applications early.

Syndesmos invites Orthodox Christians from its member organisations and beyond to spend a week of prayer, discussions and workshops on missionary and social ministries in the Church.

The Syndesmos Summer Gathering 2017 will be held on the northern Aegean island of Samos in Greece – in modern Orthodox Metropolis Camp Facility located in Kotsikas, near the port city of Vathi/Vathy in Samos. 

Working language:        English                   
Airports: Athens (ATH), Samos (SMI)

Tentative Schedule:
23 – 24 June 2017           Friday – Saturday             Arrivals
25 – 29 June 2017           Sunday – Thursday          Gathering Programme
30         June 2017           Friday                               Departures

TRAVEL TO THE AEGEAN ISLAND OF SAMOS, GREECE:
You can fly into Athens International Airport (ATH) located in Athens, Greece.

…OR you can fly directly into Samos Airport (SMI) in Samos, Greece from your country (if routes prove possible) OR from Athens International Airport (ATH). (NOTE:  Check with low-cost Greek carriers such as AEGEAN AIRLINES...55-minute direct flights (ATH) to (SMI)).

…OR you can take an all-day ferry boat OR overnight ferry boat from the Greek port city of Piraeus to the port city of VATHI/VATHY, Samos.  Google HELLENIC SEAWAYS for ferry boat schedule.  Please allow up to two days for travel by ferry boat to Samos depending on boat schedule.

 (NOTE:  From Athens International Airport, one can take a cheap public train ride to the port city of Piraeus where ALL ships depart.  Ferry boat trip can take anywhere from 8-13 hours as boat stops on several other islands along the way before reaching Samos. To give you an idea, the approximate cost of an economy ticket during the summer of 2016 for a one-way ticket: 49.50 EUROS).

Visa Information:
Please check with your specific country Embassy to learn specific requirements for travel to Greece (member of European Union) and to learn if a visa is needed.
Regarding participants needing VISAS, in case of medical emergency to cover costs or other emergency needs, you will need to have proper health/travel insurance coverage.


FRIENDS, YOU ARE INVITED!


Report on the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth 2016 in Prešov, Slovakia

International Meeting of Orthodox Youth 2016
“for we are members of one another” (Eph 4:25) Youth thinks Church
20 – 26 July 2016, Prešov, Slovakia

In July 2016, about 30 Orthodox young people from 12 countries (Belarus, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, USA) and three continents gathered in Prešov to celebrate their common faith and share their thoughts, ideas and concerns. The Fellowship of Orthodox Youth in Slovakia was our host, in cooperation with the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia, Orthodox Theological Faculty and Orthodox Seminary of University of Prešov.  

This year’s event took place in a particular context, only few weeks after the Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete. The participants were invited to reflect on the Church from the perspective of the youth. Inputs for reflection were given by father George Kovalenko from Kiev, who gave the series of lectures on the Council, on the secularization inside the Church and on his current projects, like the Open Orthodox University of Saint Sophia the Wisdom. Fr. Jan Safin, dean of the Faculty and fr. Milan Gerka, rector of the Seminary also shared their thoughts – fr. Jan by giving us historical introduction for the Church councils and fr. Milan by giving us insights to the history and present life of the Church in Slovakia throughout our stay in the Seminary. Interventions of fr. Nikolaj Lakata, fr. Ivo Petrovaj, fr. Boris Hrustic, fr. Vladimir Spisak and fr. Dusan Skurla were also enjoyed by the participants.

The voice was also given to the Youth through workshops on the theme ‘What does the Church mean to me?’ and on designing practical projects to involve Youth more actively in Church life. Participants put forward classical theological concepts about the Church but also pointed out that openness of the Church is very important in the modern world, as well as the fact that the Church is a place of healing and compassion. They proved very creative on the practical workshops, by proposing ways to use internet sites or even apps, to involve young adults in sometimes playful ways, or by reflecting on how social and mission work can be combined with youth work.  

The days of the international meeting were penetrated with common prayer – in the mornings and evenings, before and after meals, and most importantly during the Divine liturgies in seminary church and in cathedral church celebrated by His Beatitude Rastislav, metropolitan of Czech Lands and Slovakia. An audience with the metropolitan was the occasion for warm exchange and will be remembered as one of the best moments of the meeting.

Apart from conference and workshops, participants shared a lot of less formal moments, visiting the historical centers of towns Prešov, Košice, Bardejov and Bardejov Spa, Svidnik, Ladomirova. The cultural evening and Slovak evening were the occasion of building contacts and making new friendships. 

During the week in Prešov participants could understand – and put in practice – that conciliarity is a process which takes effort and commitment. As one of the participants put it: “Syndesmos provides an inspiring example of how to help different people understand each other and communicate with each other.”

APPEAL TO THE MOST HOLY ORTHODOX CHURCHES


At the eve of the long awaited Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, Syndesmos, the World Fellowship of Orthodox Youth expresses its deep concern in respect with a possible cancellation of the Council, due to the refusal of some Autocephalous Churches to take part in it.

We acknowledge that the responsibility to rule our Church lies on the shoulders of the Bishops, as spiritual Fathers. They bear this responsibility before God and His people, before history. Any possible failure in the implementation of the Council is a failure for all of us and would imply serious problems in witnessing to the world our faith and our hope. All our Church communities as well as the whole of mankind require a living and united Orthodoxy.

We appeal to the Church delegations that will be present in Crete, on the day of Pentecost, to hold the opening session of the Council, to invite again all Orthodox Churches to join them, and not to close the session of the Council, unless the absent Churches join them, “for so there will be concord, and God will be glorified through the Lord in the Holy Spirit” (34th Apostolic Canon).

 - the Board of Administration of Syndesmos

International Meeting of Orthodox Youth 2016

International Meeting of Orthodox Youth 2016, in Prešov (Slovakia), 20-26 July 2016:
“For we are members of one another.” (Eph 4 : 25) 
Youth thinks Church

International conference :
Orthodox Church in the Modern World

Applications
Post deadline applications should be sent to imoy2016@orthodox.sk

download application form :

   

Participants needing visas are encouraged to send their applications early.

NEW: Indications on how to prepare your travel to Presov!

Communiqué of the Board of Administration

“The truth shall make you free” Jn 8,32

As the Board of Administration of Syndesmos, we are astonished and saddened by the news about Fr. Christophe D’Aloisio’s suspension from the priestly ministry.

Fr. Christophe served in Syndesmos in different functions for more than a decade. The General Assemblies in 2003 (Albania) and in 2009 (Greece) trusted him with the leadership of our Fellowship. No longer than a year ago he was blessed to participate in the General Assembly in Romania to pass on this ministry to us. His approach to this work was always thorough and caring for the good of the Church. We know Fr. Christophe as a caring pastor and an assiduous and reliable colleague.

We apprehend this decision was hastened and sense that the situation leading to such a heavy sanction lacks clarity and transparency, which are vital when dealing with pastoral issues. An abrupt and unexplained decision to ban an esteemed pastor from performing his duties can only add bitterness to the feelings of the faithful and disappointment to younger believers. We believe that this issue has to be approached with the care “for the stability of the holy churches of God, and for the unity of all” as we pray in every liturgy.

This decision was taken in the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe. The Archdiocese with its great tradition of theological thinking and applied conciliarity, which is the founding principle of Syndesmos, occupies a unique place in the worldwide Orthodoxy. Therefore, we feel closely connected to the Archdiocese and hope for the speedy restoration of peace and trust within this ecclesial community.