Translation of "The Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church Act " (English → French) :

However the so-called ‘Second Synod’ wants to register as ‘the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church’.

Unfortunately, this led to the so-called ‘Second Synod’ of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, despite the Bulgarian Religious Denominations Act.

Calls, therefore, on the Government to address these issues systematically by amending legislation and by ensuring its proper implementation at all levels of government, including the municipalities; points too, in this context, to the recommendations adopted by the Venice Commission in spring 2010 concerning the legal personality of religious communities and the ecclesiastical title ‘Ecumenical’ of the Orthodox Patriarchate; welcomes the recent decision by the ‘Foundations Assembly’ to transfer the Büyükada Greek Orphanage for Boys to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in accordance with the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, and ...[+++] the granting of Turkish citizenship to several Greek Orthodox clergy in order to facilitate the Patriarchate and the Holy Synod; welcomes the religious ceremony in the Sümela Monastery Museum in Trabzon and the ceremony in the church on Akdamar Island in the province of Van; finds the Turkish Supreme Court decision against Mor Gabriel Monastery, concerning a land dispute with villages and the Turkish Treasury, to be regrettable; restates its expectation that the Government’s announcements about the reopening of the Halki Greek Orthodox seminary will soon be followed by action and by measures providing for the unhindered training of Christian communities’ clergy; urges the Government to pay special attention to educational materials in schools, which should reflect the religious plurality of Turkish society, and to the need for unbiaised learning materials;

In addition to being a popular figure in Greece, His Holiness had been a tremendous spiritual leader of the Greece Orthodox Church, an energetic servant of God who, since his 1998 election as head of the church, was credited with reinvigorating the church.

Mr. John Cannis (Scarborough Centre, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday, September 29, the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Church of Canada, His Grace Bishop Soterios was elevated to the ranking of Metropolitan by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Holy Synod.

I am personally grateful as is my Commission to His Holiness Patriarch Pavle, and to the whole of the Orthodox Church of which he is the leader, for the moral and civic leadership they have played during these difficult years; for the spiritual witness they have given; for having constantly condemned tyranny and demanded a return to freedom.