The Old Catholic-Eastern Orthodox Dia- logue in the Bonn Union Conferences and its prospects for inter-Orthodox and in- ter-Christian relations today (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church & the Ecumenical Movement
ANTONIOS STAMOULIS, 2013
The issue of the Orthodox participation in the Ecumenical Movement in general, and in the WCC in particular, remains always a timely and challenging topic for discussions and deliberations, not only among the Orthodox specialists, clergy and professors, who are directly involved in that matter, but also among the Orthodox faithful. The variety of divergent opinions1 extends from a wholehearted support of a complete and active Orthodox participation in the process of searching for Christian unity to a more cautious and critical stance on it. Some conservative Orthodox circles have expressed even an absolute and fundamentalist opposition to any kind of rapprochement among the Christian Churches. These alignments constitute the scope of the Orthodox understanding and interpretation of Ecumenism, not only during the previous decades, but also nowadays. It is generally acknowledged that the last decade of the 20th century was the most problematic and painful period concerning the Orthodox participation in the WCC. The Orthodox Church, which, under the relevant initiatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, had a pioneering role in the formation of the Ecumenical Movement from the very beginning of the 20th century, found herself in difficulties relating to her position in the WCC. Indeed, the Churches of Georgia and Bulgaria withdrew their membership from the WCC and the Conference of European Churches (CEC); Georgia in 1997, followed by Bulgaria in 1998. 1. Archbishop Iakovos of America, “The Orthodox Churches vis-à-vis the Ecumenical Movement”, in The Catholic World, vol. 201, no. 1, April 1965, 237- 239. Moreover, a significant and perilous rekindling of anti-ecumenical Orthodox circles was manifested during the 1990’s, especially in the former Soviet countries after the fall of communism. That crisis in the relations of the Orthodox Church with the Ecumenical Movement led the 8th General Assembly of the WCC in Harare (1998) to appoint a Special Commission on Orthodox participation in the WCC. Motivated by that reality, due to the fact that I was studying between 2004 and 2005 in the official Institute of the WCC, at Bossey, and the Autonomous Faculty of Protestant Theology of the University of Geneva, I considered it important to study further the issue and deepen my understanding of the Orthodox involvement in the Ecumenical Movement. More specifically, in this dissertation I try to explore the official Orthodox position vis-à-vis the Ecumenical Movement as it had been formulated by the official synodical bodies of the Orthodox Church in her process of convoking the Holy and Great Council. The convocation of the Holy and Great Council was envisioned as an attempt of the Orthodox Churches to come closer and deal on a Pan- Orthodox level with the main issues that confronted them in the 20th century. After many centuries of mutual isolation and alienation, the process of meeting of the Orthodox Churches was only put into practice during the 1960’s, even though this issue occupied the thought of the Orthodox leaders from the very beginning of the 20th century. Among the themes of the agenda of the Holy and Great Council, the issue of Ecumenism and inter-Christian relations had a primary place. While dealing with the issue of the Orthodox participation in the Ecumenical Movement, I will try to answer the following questions: Is the participation of the Orthodoxy in the Ecumenical Movement and in its institutional forms, such as the WCC, based on firm principles logically applied? Are there any divergences or shifts in the attempt of the Orthodox Church to articulate her official position concerning her presence in the Ecumenical Movement? If so, how can they be explained? How can one analyze the changing attitudes of Orthodoxy vis-à-vis the orientation of the Ecumenical Movement and of the WCC after a common decision (1986) has been reached on a Pan-Orthodox level? Has that common decision a binding character for the autocephalous Orthodox Churches? In my attempt to answer to those questions, I focused my research on studying the formal decisions taken by the Orthodox Churches on a Pan-Orthodox level. My study was based on the Encyclicals, official Church documents and minutes of Pan-Orthodox Conferences and Ecumenical Assemblies and Consultations, as well as on related articles and essays. In addition, influential personalities involved in the WCC activities and in the Pan-Orthodox Preconciliar process have been interviewed. Despite the fact that this topic also touches ecclesiological aspects, my purpose was to deal with all these sources by limiting myself to a historic point of view until the work performed by the well known Special Commission on Orthodox participation in the WCC (1998-2002) was completed. The chronic limit (2002) is exclusively related to the time when this Master’s thesis was written (2004-2005), namely before the convocation of the Porto Alegre 9th General Assembly of the WCC, where the proposals of the Special Commission on Orthodox participation in the WCC were adopted and put into practice.
The Catholic Church and its Orthodox Sister Churches Twenty-Five Years after Balamand, 2022
In 1993 the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church promulgated what became known as the Balamand Document, 'Uniatism, Method of Union of the Past and the Present Search for Full Communion'. While the first agreed statements of that ecumenical dialogue aroused great enthusiasm and hope for Catholic-Orthodox unity, the Balamand documented interjected a period of instability in Catholic-Orthodox relations that has persisted to this day. These sixteen essays by Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic and independent scholars bring together studies on the quarter century since the Balamand document was first proclaimed. The first section of this book presents the historical and theological context of modern Orthodox-Catholic ecumenical dialogue. What is often at stake in movements of reconciliation are the healing of painful memories of the past. The second part of the book examines the reception and, in some cases, non-reception of the Balamand Document in Central and Eastern Europe, while the third section engages the reception of the Balamand Document in the Middle East, with chapters on the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Assyrian Church of the East. The various authors reveal the great diversity that exists in the spiritual, theological, historical and liturgical traditions of the Eastern Catholic Churches, especially in their relations with the Orthodox Churches. The studies also examine differing perspectives on both the benefits and problematics of directly engaging Eastern Catholics in ecumenical dialogue, and the role that they might play in a vision of full communion so that reconciliation and unity have a truly authentic and lasting significance.
The Re‐Encounter Between the Eastern Church and the Western Church
The Ecumenical Review, 1965
Except where otherwise indicated the writers of the articles are alone responsible for the opinions expressed VOLUME XVII OCTOBER 1965 NUMBER 4 Augustin CARDINAL BEA, The Unity of Christians, Eng. Trans. Ed. Bernard Leeming, Geoffrey Chapman. Address of Cardinal Augustin Bea to the Ecumenical Patriarch, Archives of the Synodal Chancellery of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Th is conference under the title "Th e Forthcoming Council of the Orthodox Church: Understanding the Challenges" has broached the most important questions and issues for the Great Council in preparation, such as the common liturgical calendar, autocephaly, autonomy and diptychs, the future of the supposed Orthodox "diaspora, " relations between Orthodoxy and other Christian churches, and also ethical and social questions and the contemporary practice of fasting. For all of these major questions, this conference has benefi ted from the presence and the analyses-both penetrating and stimulating-of ecumenical observers, Roman Catholic and Protestant, which has itself permitted a fruitful interaction in a spirit of openness and ecumenical understanding. As Peter De Mey indicated in his presentation:
This paper presents details pertaining to the dialogue between Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches. A brief history of the official bilateral meetings between the representatives of these two Christian traditions is sketched in the first part of the paper. The texts which converge by way of doctrine are highlighted. In the second part I present some of the difficulties which still prevent Eucharistic intercommunion between Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, in spite of the doctrinal agreement which has been reached. Finally, some possible solutions are drafted in the last part of the paper, with special reference to Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae's proposal of broadening the dogmatic expression from Chalcedon.
2013
Collection of all official agreements and common declarations between the different Oriental Orthodox Churches plus the Church of the East and the Catholic Church existing till to 2013. This publication was the result of a meeting of a small group “Old Friends of PRO ORIENTE” still including the pioneers of ecumenism among the Oriental Orthodox theologians, Their Graces Achbishop Mesrob Krikorian and Metropolitan Mor Gregrorios Yohanna Ibrahim. The visit of Mor Gegorios to Vienna for the 2nd meeting, when the collection of the agreements could already be presented was the last time I have seen him. We had great ideas. We wanted to prepare a round table meeting of all heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches together with the Pope, in those days still Benedict XVI. But soon everything changed. Pope Benedict retired, Pope Amba Shenuda passed away, Mor Gregorios was kidnapped. Soon also the patriarchs in Damascus and in Addis Abbeba changed and also Archbishop Krikorian left us. So the collection of agreements may be the lasting result of this hopefully started initiative. – An Ethiopian translation of this collection was started 2016, its presentation was to take place in December 2018. But appearently this did not yet happen. – Unfortunally I have to apologize for many typing errors, which I was not able to correct in this PDF to be uploaded.
Warszawskie Studia Teologiczne, 2019
The aim of this article is to analyse the events and documents of the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2014 and Fourteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2015 in which Orthodox representatives also participated. It is commonly known that the Orthodox Churches allow divorced individuals to remarry and for remarried people to receive sacraments.In the present study we discuss who were present on behalf of the Orthodox Churches and sui iuris Eastern Catholics at the synod, what happened in relation to these denominations, and what references were made regarding Orthodox and Eastern practices and theology. First we look at the so-called “ordo” of the synods. Then we examine the preparatory documents in chronological order. After that we analyse the “Instrumentum laboris”. Following the analysis of the introductory document, the “Relatio ante disceptationem”, we summarise the activity of the so-called “circuli minores” based on the bri...
Ecclesiological Insights into the Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue
The paper’s aim is to provide a synthetic and at the same time critical reading of the official theological dialogue, known as the “dialogue of truth”, between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. The paper will cover the period from the dialogue’s preparation, also known as the “dialogue of charity”, to the present day. It will analyse the ecclesiological aspects of this dialogue, focusing on sacraments, church ministries, primacy, synodality, and other related issues such as “Uniatism”. The essay will provide an overall evaluation of the dialogue, examining its reception and the need for concrete criteria of unity. Also, the paper will highlight the synodal and sacramental roots of episcopacy and their significance for the unity of the Church. The article will present insights from leading theologians, such as Joseph Ratzinger and John Zizioulas, to better understand the meaning and functions of primacy in the universal Church.