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(Vatican Radio)   With a message to Orthodox believers throughout the world, the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church completed its weeklong work on Sunday.The meeting, presided over by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, took place at the Orthodox Academy on the Greek island of Crete.

In the final document leaders of the 10 local or Autocephalous Churches taking part in the meeting expressed particular concern for Christians in the Middle East. They also condemned military violence, persecutions, the expulsion and murder of members of religious minorities, forced conversions, torture, executions and the trafficking of refugees.

The 290 delegates at the Counci also discussed six documents on the topics of marriage, the practice of fasting, the question of autonomy, the Orthodox diaspora, the mission of the Church in today’s world, and the issue of relations with other Christian Churches.

Fr Chrysostom Nassis is professor in the theology faculty of the University of Thessaloniki and was a member of the delegation of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem at the Council. He talked to Philippa Hitchen about the most significant results of the long awaited encounter….

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Vatican City, Jun 27, 2016 / 01:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis told journalists on Sunday that he was somewhat angered when reports emerged that the Church was allegedly paving the way for the ordination of women to the diaconate, since no such change is in the works.

“The first to be surprised by this news was me,” the Pope said June 26 during an in-flight press briefing en route to Rome following his three-day visit to Armenia.

“They said: 'The Church opens the door to deaconesses.' Really? I am a bit angry because this is not telling the truth of things.”

His remarks were in reference to reports last month following a Q&A session with women religious, in which he said he would like to form a commission to study the diaconate and the role of deaconesses in the early Church.

The reports of the May 12 audience with the International Union of Superiors General centered on one question asked by a sister about why the Church does not include women in the permanent diaconate. The sister had referred to an ancient tradition in the Church in which there were female deacons, and suggested that a commission be established to study the possibility.

When asked about it again during his flight, the Pope gested that one Argentine president had said that “When you want something not to be resolved, make a commission.”

“We had heard that in the first centuries there were deaconesses,” he continued. “One could study this and one could make a commission. Nothing more has been requested.”

Reports quickly circulated following the May 12 event that Pope Francis was paving the way for the ordination of women deacons, and potentially even women priests. Holy See press office director, Fr. Federico Lombardi clarified in a May 13 statement that the Pope had no such intention.

During the June 26 in-flight presser, Francis reiterated the remarks made during the audience with women religious. He referred back to a Syrian theologian who had told him that there were women in the early Church who assisted bishops when dealing with other women, for the sake of modesty.

For instance, women would assist with baptisms of other women since it was the practice to fully immerse the candidate during baptism. The Pope also also cited an instance in which a bishop was approached by a woman who claimed her husband had beaten her; he called in a woman to assess the bruises on the body.

Francis acknowledged that the subject of women deacons has already been studied by the Church,  including a 2002 document from the International Theological Commission, and advisory body to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The document, which gave a thorough historical context of the role of the deaconess in the ancient Church, overwhelmingly concluded that female deacons in the early Church had not been equivalent to male deacons, and had neither a liturgical nor a sacramental function.

During his in-flight press conference, Pope Francis went on to express his appreciation for women in the Church, saying they should be listened to before decisions are made. Indeed, he would often ask women for advice because “they saw things in another light,” and their solutions were “very fruitful.”

“Woman's thought is important,” he said. Noting how women think differently from men, he said “one cannot make a good decision without listening to women.”

“The Church is a woman. It is 'la Chiesa', who is not a spinster; she is a woman married to the son of God, she is the spouse of Jesus Christ.”

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Cindy Wooden

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ARMENIA (CNS) -- Commenting on the peace agreement reached in Colombia, Pope Francis hailed the end of "more than 50 years of war and guerilla warfare and so much bloodshed."

Pope Francis told reporters flying with him to Armenia June 24 that he prayed Colombia would "never return to a state of war" again.

Although he usually does not answer questions on his flights from Rome to other countries, Pope Francis was asked by his spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, to comment on both the Colombia agreement and the results of a June 23 referendum in England on membership in the European Union.

The decision to leave the EU "was the will expressed by the people," the pope said.

The English decision, he said, "requires great responsibility on the part of all of us to guarantee the good of the people of the United Kingdom and the good and coexistence of the whole European continent."

After his brief response to the questions, Pope Francis returned to his normal routine on outbound flights, walking the length of the plane and personally greeting each of the almost 70 media representatives. He collected letters and books and signed a few autographs.

The Colombian government reached a cease-fire agreement June 23 with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, ending 52 years of hostilities. The government and the Marxist guerillas have been in talks since 2012, reaching agreement on what the parties describe as five pillars.

The final pillar, the demobilization of the guerillas, was the most difficult to settle. The other pillars cover political participation, rural development, the illicit economy, and victims of the violence and were settled in earlier negotiations.

In the United Kingdom, voters June 23 decided to exit the EU by 52 percent to 48 percent. The decision sent a shock wave through world financial markets and led Prime Minister David Cameron to announce his resignation.

The referendum turnout was 71.8 percent as more than 30 million people went to the polls. It was the highest turnout in a UK-wide vote since the 1992 general election.

Voters in Great Britain and Wales decided strongly to leave the EU while residents of Northern Ireland and Scotland supported staying in the European bloc.

Britain has two years to complete the withdrawal process under EU rules.

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