Βlessed Father and Master,
Most Reverend and Most God-loving holy Hierarchs of the Synod,
I would like, in the first place, to express my gratitude for the trust given to my humble person, in assigning to me the study and presentation of the theme “Church Marriage in the African Context” before the Venerable Body of the Hierarchy of our Senior Patriarchate, and also seek your understanding for any possible mistakes, weaknesses or omissions.
This subject is of particular interest and for the past two years has occupied the local Church of Brazzaville, which had already started to study it gradually. For this reason, there were meetings and exchanges of texts and views between Greek Orthodox theologians, with our native clergy, as well as bishops of the Roman Catholic Church and representatives of the Protestant Confessions in Congo —members of which can have a church wedding with a baptized Orthodox Christian—so that there is as complete an examination as possible of this burning issue, both theological-theoretical and pastoral-practical.