ABSTRACT
A large number of Orthodox churches are members of the World Council of Churches; Orthodox ecclesiastics and theologians serve on its committees and attend its conferences. Symptomatic of Orthodoxy's shifting sympathies was the procession of pro-Rome and pro-Reform patriarchs of Byzantium. Many cultural, social and political motives have been advanced as reasons for Orthodoxy's participation in the ecumenical movement—a participation which, incidentally, many within the Church strongly oppose. The Orthodox Church, because of its own ecumenical nature, can adopt an unprejudiced stand toward non-Orthodox Christians and churches without abandoning its own claim. The most important personality of this turbulent era in the history of the Greek Church was Patriarch Cyril Lukaris. The Orthodox youth in particular, it has been said, have felt the attraction of the progressive cultural, social and civilizatory spirit of the Protestant churches and have favored collaboration with them. The Church in fact calls itself "the ecumenical Church.".
