Congress of the Orthodox Youth of the South

This article reproduces the resolution drawn up by the Inter-Orthodox Preparatory Commission on the participation of the laity in liturgical and ecclesial life, within the framework of the pre-conciliar work of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church. It is an official document of a doctrinal and canonical nature, proposed for the reflection of the Church by the Secretariat for the preparation of the council. The Commission affirms therein that the question of lay participation is theologically resolved within the Orthodox tradition: clergy and laity together constitute the indivisible body of Christ, each according to distinct rights and duties arising from the sacraments of baptism, chrismation and ordination. The principal contribution of the text is to emphasize that the Orthodox Church does not experience a crisis of lay participation, thereby distinguishing its situation from that of other contemporary Christian traditions.