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→Post-Communist era (1991-Present): limiting to major events (sub-article to have full listings)
=='''[[Timeline of Church History: Post-Communist Era (1991-Present)|Post-Communist era (1991-Present)]]'''==
*1991 Soviet Union collapses, ending [[w:Cold War|Cold War]]; representatives Representatives of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches meet in Chambesy, Switzerland, discussing relations with World Council of Churches; Ruthenian Byzantine rite Catholic Church in [[w:Zakarpattia Oblast|Transcarpathia]] was restored as a separate entity from Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church based in [[w:Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]], having about 23% of Transcarpathia's parishes compared to 60% of the Orthodox total there; Greek Orthodox [[w:Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy|Archdiocese of Italy and Exarchate of Southern Europe]] is created. *1992 Civil war begins in former Yugoslavia; synaxis Synaxis of primates of Orthodox churches in Constantinople; [[Church of Romania|Romanian Orthodox Church]] canonizes [[w:Constantin Brâncoveanu|Constantin Brâncoveanu]] (+1714). *1993 Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Theological Commission meets in Balamand, Lebanon, issuing common document ''"Uniatism: Method of Union of the Past, and Present. Search for Full Communion" '' (the "[[Balamand document]]"); Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement ''"The Ecumenical Councils." ''
*1993 [[Church of Cyprus]] condemns [[Freemasonry]]; ''[[Orthodox Study Bible|Orthodox Study Bible: New Testament and Psalms]]'' published; [[Church of Eritrea|Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] becomes autocephalous; martyrdom of [[New Martyrs of Optina Pustyn]].
*1994 [[Ligonier Meeting]] in Western Pennsylvania at [[Antiochian Village]] held by the majority of Orthodox hierarchs in North America votes to do away with the notion of Orthodox Christians in America being a "[[diaspora]]"; death of [[Paisios (Eznepidis)|Elder Paisios]] of [[Mount Athos]]. *1995 Patr. [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople|Bartholomew I]] visits Vatican; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement ''"Understanding of Salvation in the Light of the Ecumenical Councils"''; Pope John Paul II issues encyclical ''[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_02051995_orientale-lumen_en.html Orientale Lumen]'', encouraging reunion between East and West. *1996 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America reorganized by the [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]], dividing the administration of the two continents into four parts; [[Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia|Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia]] (Ecumenical Patriarchate) founded. *1997 Visit by Patr. [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople]] to US; establishment Establishment of dioceses of Bukoba, Madagascar, Ghana and Nigeria; Russian [[w:Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations|Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations]] declares [[Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christianity]] as Russia's predominant religion. *1998 [[Church of Constantinople]], not recognizing Russia's right to issue a [[tomos]] of [[autocephaly]] in 1951, issues its own tomos for the [[Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia]]; [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/thessaloniki_roc.aspx Thessaloniki Summit] held to discuss Orthodox participation in [[w:World Council of Churches|WCC]]; uncovering of the relics of [[Ambrose of Optina|Ambrose]] of [[Optina Monastery|Optina]]; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement ''"Salvation: Grace, Justification and Synergy." '' *1999 Numerous Serbian Orthodox sites in Kosovo and Metohia destroyed and desecrated during NATO peacekeeping presence; Lutheran World Federation and Roman Catholic Church sign [[w:Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification |Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification]]. *2000 Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Theological Commission meets in Baltimore, discusses text on ''"The Ecclesiological and Canonical Implications of Uniatism," '' but is suspended; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement ''"Word and Sacraments (Mysteria) in the Life of the Church"; [[Church of Russia|Russian Orthodox Church]] announces the [[glorification|canonization]] of Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia]] and his immediate family; government of Greece orders removal of religious affiliation from state identity cards''.
*2001 Pope John Paul II of Rome [[Fourth Crusade#Papal Apology to Orthodox Church|apologizes to Orthodox Church]] for Fourth Crusade; [[Church of Alexandria|Chalcedonian]] and [[Church of Alexandria (Coptic)|Non-Chalcedonian]] Patriarchates of Alexandria agree to mutually recognize baptisms and marriages performed in each other's churches.
*2002 Patr. [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople]] and Pope [[John Paul II]] co-sign Venice Declaration of Environmental Ethics; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement ''"Mysteria/Sacraments as Means of Salvation." ''
*2003 [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America]] granted "self-rule" (similar but not identical to [[autonomy]]) by [[Church of Antioch]]; Coptic priest Fr. [[Zakaria Botros]] begins his television and internet mission to Muslims in North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and western countries, resulting in thousands of conversions.
*2004 Pope [[John Paul II]] returns [[relics]] of [[John Chrysostom]] and [[Gregory the Theologian]] to [[Church of Constantinople]]; Patr. [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople]] consecrates church in Havana, Cuba; consecration of first Orthodox church in Antarctica by [[Church of Russia]]; [[Theotokos of Tikhvin|Tikhvin Icon]] returned to Tikhvin Dormition Monastery after six decades in the United States; [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]] canonizes Fr. [[Alexis Medvedkov]], Fr. [[Dimitri Klepinine]], Mother [[Maria Skobtsova]], [[George Skobtsov]] and [[Elie Fondaminskii]] of the Russian emigration in France; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission statement ''"Baptism and Chrismation as Sacraments of Initiation into the Church." ''
*2005 Major controversy in Ukraine involving the almost exclusively western Ukraine-based [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Uniate]] Greek Catholic Church moving its administrative centre on from Lviv to Kiev, constructing a large cathedral there, and its plans to establish a patriarchate, criticized by the Orthodox [[Church of Ukraine]] and other Orthodox.
*2006 Publication of first Orthodox prayer book in Chinese and Russian; Pope [[Benedict XVI]] drops ''Patriarch of the West'' title; Russian Orthodox parish opened in Pyongyang, North Korea; Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Theological Commission meets in Belgrade, Serbia; Pope [[Benedict XVI]] visits Ecumenical Patriarchate, drawing criticism from [[Mount Athos]]; Abp. [[Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens]] visits Vatican; Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission issues statement ''"The Holy Eucharist in the Life of the Church." '' *2007 Restoration of [[full communion]] between [[Moscow Patriarchate]] and [[ROCOR]]; 1600th anniversary celebration of the repose of [[John Chrysostom]]; the [[Roman Catholic Church|Vatican]] [[w:Vatican_abolishes_Limbo|formally abolishes doctrine of Limbo]]; number of Orthodox believers in Italy reaches almost one million as a result of immigration from Romania and Ukraine; synod of over 50 bishops of the [[Church of Ukraine]] announce that the UOC-MP is "an autonomous, historical part of the Russian Orthodox Church"; Orthodox-Roman Catholic Joint Commission meets in Ravenna, Italy, 10th plenary, led by co-presidents [[w:Walter Kasper|Cardinal Walter Kasper]] and Metr. [[John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon]], agreeing upon a joint document consisting of 46 articles providing an ecclesiastical road map in discussing union; Russian delegation walks out of Ravenna talks in protest of presence of Estonian delegation ([[Church of Constantinople|EP]]); letter "[[w:A Common Word Between Us and You|A Common Word Between Us and You]]" is sent by 138 Muslim leaders from 40 nations to the leaders of the world's Christian churches, calling for understanding and commonality. *2008 First Orthodox Liturgy [http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4495 celebrated at the North Pole]; [[Orthodox Study Bible]] (with [[Septuagint]]) published; [[Church of Ukraine|UOC-MP]] canonizes new martyrs of Vasyliivskyi, Fr. [[Serhii Shtenko]] and laymen [[Prokhor Bunchuk]] and [[Kyryl Pryima]], martyred during the communist persecution of the church in the 20th century; 14th Session of the Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission was held in Paphos, Cyprus; [[Metropolis of Singapore]] (Ecumenical Patriarchate) founded; [http://www.ec-patr.org/docdisplay.php?lang=en&id=995&tla=en Pan-Orthodox meeting in Constantinople] in October of the Primates of the fourteen Orthodox Churches, signing a document calling for inter-orthodox unity and collaboration and "''the continuation of preparations for the Holy and Great Council''".