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The Official Theological Dialogue
between the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church
H.E. Mor Theophilus George
Saliba, Archbishop of Mount Lebanon, Secretary of
the Holy Synod of the Syrian Orthodox Church; and H.E. Mor Thomas Themotheos,
Metropolitan of Kottayam (India) represented the
Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. Cardinal Walter Kasper and Metropolitan Bishoy
were the co-chairmen and Msgr. Johan Bonny and
Bishop Nareg Alemezian
were the co-secretaries of the meeting. Twenty eight clergy and lay theologians of the Armenian, Coptic,
Syrian, Indian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches -the representatives of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church were absent- and the Catholic Church evaluated the
work of the official and unofficial bi-lateral dialogues between the Catholic
Church and the Family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the common
declarations signed by the Heads of their respective Churches. On Wednesday, January 28, H.H. Shenouda III,
Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, received the
Commission members and wished them fruitful deliberations. The second meeting of the Commission
will be hosted by the Catholic Church, January 24-30, 2005, in Rome, and the
topic of the discussion will be ‘Church
as Communion’. Report of the first meeting of the International Joint Commission for Theological
Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches Cairo, Egypt, 27-30 January 2004 Catholic and Oriental Orthodox representatives, delegated by their
Churches, met 27-30 January 2004, as members of the International Joint
Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the
Oriental Orthodox Churches, under the co-chairmanship of His Eminence
Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity and His Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy of Damiette, General Secretary of the Holy Synod of the
Coptic Orthodox Church. The meeting was held in Nasr City (Cairo,
Egypt) at the Saint Mark Centre, hosted by H.H. Shenouda
III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark. Letters of
invitation to this meeting, signed by both co-chairmen, were sent to the
Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches: the Coptic Orthodox Church, Syrian
Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church (Catholicosate
of all Armenians), Armenian Apostolic Church (Catholicosate
of Cilicia), Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Eritrean Orthodox
Church. The same invitation was sent to the Catholic members through the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. In their opening address the co-chairmen underscore the importance of
the meeting marking the beginning of a new official theological dialogue
between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches as a family. In the name of H.H. Pope Shenouda III,
Metropolitan Bishoy welcomed the participants, who
on Wednesday evening 28 January had the opportunity to take part at the
weekly sermon of Pope Shenouda III at Saint Mark's
Cathedral in Cairo. His Holiness greeted all delegation members and
recommended the new dialogue to the prayers of the faithful. In response,
H.E. Cardinal Walter Kasper conveyed the brotherly greetings and presented a
gift of H.H. Pope John Paul II. The Cardinal confirmed that Catholic and
Oriental Orthodox faithful are united in the same faith in the Triune God and
in the Saviour Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, that they venerate in
common the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and that they share as common
Fathers and Teachers of the Church Saint Athanasius
and Saint Cyril of Alexandria. On Thursday afternoon 29 January, H.H. Pope Shenouda III came to Saint Mark Centre to greet and bless
the Joint Commission, wishing full success for the dialogue and presented
personal gifts to all participants. The first part of the meeting was dedicated to a consideration of the
many studies and activities which have taken place over the past thirty
years. In this context were presented and discussed the following issues: (1)
Unofficial Consultations held between the Catholic Church and the Oriental
Orthodox Churches (paper by Prof. Dr. Dietmar
Winkler and presentation by H.E. Archbishop Dr. Mesrob
Krikorian), (2) The official dialogue between the
Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church (papers by H.E. Metropolitan Bishoy and Rev. Father Frans Bouwen); (3) The official dialogue between the Catholic
Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
(paper on the official dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church by Rev. Father Mathew Vellanickal; paper of Rev. Father John Mathews, read in
his absence by H.E. Archbishop Dr. Mesrob Krikorian); (4) The official declarations made by the
Catholic Church and any Oriental Orthodox Church (paper by Rev. Father Johan
Bonny; presentations by H.E. Archbishop George Saliba,
H.E. Archbishop Dr. Mesrob Krikorian,
H.G. Bishop Nareg Alemezian).
Rev. Father John Long distributed the booklet sponsored jointly by the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Standing Conference of
Oriental Orthodox Churches in the USA concerning various aspects of their
dialogue. These papers and presentations showed that considerable work has
been done, which may be helpful for the future dialogue of the commission. In the second part of the meeting, the Workplan
and Agenda for the Dialogue as established in the Preparatory Committee
Report were considered. It was decided that the next meeting will deal with
the first part of ecclesiology "Church as communion" (items 1-6 and
8). Item 7 of the first part of ecclesiology (Oriental Churches in communion
with Rome, their ecclesial and canonical implications) will be studied in a
later stage. From each side, one paper will be prepared on the following
topics: (a) Understanding of communion, Constitutive elements of communion;
(b) Particular and universal communion; Meaning of sister churches and of
church families; (c) Full communion and degrees of communion, Common
ecumenical goal. Second Meeting of the
Commission 1.
Preparations for the second meeting will be undertaken under the
leadership of the co-chairs; 2.
This meeting will take place from 25 January (arrival) to 30 January
(departure) 2005, with the option of spending the weekend at the venue; the
members of the Oriental Orthodox delegation will arrive on 24 January; 3.
H.E. Cardinal Walter Kasper extended an invitation to have the second
meeting of the Commission in Rome; 4.
Papers will be sent to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
in the Vatican, by November 1st, 2004, for communication to the
members of the Commission; 5.
The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity will offer
co-ordinating facilities for the work of the Commission. The sessions of the first meeting were held in the context of daily
morning and evening prayer, and in a very cordial atmosphere. Separate
meetings of the members of the two delegations enabled the co-ordinated
contribution to the dialogue and sharing other concerns. The members expressed their gratitude to the Coptic Orthodox Church
and to the Director and staff-members of the Saint Mark Centre for providing
accommodation and hospitality. The members of the Commission were: Representatives of the Oriental Orthodox Churches
Coptic Orthodox Church: H.E. Amba Bishoy (co-chair), Metropolitan of Damiette,
General Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church; H.G.
Bishop Suriel, Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox
Diocese of Melbourne (substitute of Mr. Yoftahe Dimetros, representative of the Eritrean Orthodox
Church), Rev. Fr. Dr. Shenouda Maher Ishak; Syrian Orthodox Church: H.E. Mor Theophilus
George Saliba, Archbishop of Mount Lebanon,
Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Syrian Orthodox Church; H.E. Thomas
Themotheos, Metropolitan of Kottayam
(India); Armenian Apostolic Church (Catholicosate of
all Armenians): H.E. Dr. Mesrob K. Krikorian, Archbishop of Vienna; Rev. Fr. Gabriel Sargsyan (substitute); Rev. Fr. Dajad
Tsaturyan (observer); Armenian Apostolic Church (Catholicosate of Cilicia): H.E. Archbishop Oshagan
Choloyan, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy in the
U.S.A.; H.G. Bishop Nareg Alemezian,
Ecumenical Officer of the Catholicosate
of Cilicia; Eritrean Orthodox Church: Rev. Fr. Kaleab Gebreselassie, Co-ordinator for Foreign Affairs; Mr. Yoftahe Dimetrios, General
Director of the Eritrean Orthodox Church (prevented); Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church: H.E. Philipos Mar Eusebios, Metropolitan of Pathanamthitta
(prevented), Rev. Dr. John Mathews (co-secretary), Secretary Committee on
Inter-Church Relations (prevented). Representatives of the Catholic Church
H.E. Cardinal Walter Kasper (co-chair), President of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity; H.E. Mons. Paul-Werner Scheele,
Bishop-em. of Würzburg
(Germany); H.E. Amba Kyrillos William, Coptic Catholic
Bishop of Assiut, President of the Ecumenical
Commission of the Catholic Church in Egypt; H.E. Mons. Jules Mikhael
Al-Jamil, Procurator of the Syrian Catholic
Patriarchate to the Holy See and Apostolic Visitator
in Europe (prevented); H.E. Mons. Boutros Marayati,
Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo, President of the Ecumenical
Commission of the Catholic Church in Syria; H.E. Mons. Woldetensae
Ghebreghiorghis, Apostolic Vicar of Harar (Ethiopia), President of the Ecumenical
Commission of the Catholic Church in Ethiopia and Eritrea; Rev. Fr. Mathew Vellanickal; Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Changanacherry (India); Rev. Fr John Long SJ, Consultant to the Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity; New York; Rev. Fr. Frans Bouwen
M.Afr.; Consultant to the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity; Jerusalem; Rev. Fr. Philippe Luisier SJ; Pontificio Istituto Orientale, Rome; Rev. Fr. Mark Sheridan, OSB; Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Pontifici Anselmo, Rome; Rev. Fr. Boghos Levon
Zekiyan; Pontificio Istituto Orientale, Rome; Rev. Fr. Paul Rouhana, OLM; Universite Saint-Esprit, Kaslik,
Jounieh; Prof. Dietmar W. Winkler; School of
Theology, Boston University, USA; Secretariat: Mgr Johan Bonny
(co-secretary), staff-member of the Pontifical Promoting Christian Unity. Metropolitan Bishoy Cardinal Walter Kasper Cairo, 30 January
2004 |
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Updated: 04.02.2004
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