In March 2014 , the Primates of local Orthodox Churches convened in Fener , the residence of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I , and reached a decision : " The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church will be convened by the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople in 2016 , unless something unexpected occurs . " In January 2016 , at the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew , the Synaxis of Primates of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches was held at the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy , Switzerland . The Primates of the local Orthodox Churches and three official delegations representing the Church of Antioch , the Church of Greece , and the Church of Poland , convened to finalise the texts for the Holy and Great Council . Due to the heightened tensions between Russia and Turkey , a decision was reached to hold the Synod in Greece
heightened tensions
2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown
Pan-Orthodox Council