ECUMENISM: CATHOLIC-ORTHODOX DIALOGUE, IN CYPRUS, ON THE BISHOP OF ROME

The International Joint Commission for theological dialogue between the Catholic and the Orthodox Church as a whole will meet again in Cyprus from 16th to 23rd October. The topic chosen for the plenary session will be the continuation and an exploration of the one ended in Ravenna in 2007: “The role of the Bishop of Rome in the communion of the Church in the first millennium”. The Joint Commission is composed of 60 members: 30 Orthodox and 30 Catholic ones and is chaired by two co-presidents: card. Walter Kasper, president of the Papal Council for the Unity of Christians, and H. E. the Metropolitan Bishop of Pergamus, Ioannis (Ecumenical Patriarchate). The Commission has two secretaries as well: they are mgr. Eleuterio Fortino and H. E. the Metropolitan Bishop of Sassima, Gennadios. During the latest plenary meeting of the Joint Commission for Dialogue in Ravenna in 2007, the Russian Orthodox delegation left the meeting due to the presence of the Church of Estonia, invited by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This Church was declared independent by Constantinople, but it is not recognised as such by the Patriarchate of Moscow. News for this meeting in Cyprus – as told to SIR by mgr. Eleuterio Fortino – include the presence of the Russian members of the Joint Commission: “There has been – mgr. Fortino explains – an explanation and an agreement between Constantinople and Moscow and the other Orthodox Churches”.
“The formal completeness of the representation of the Orthodox Churches – mgr. Fortino adds – is essential for the success of dialogue. Actually, for the first time in history since the split, this dialogue has taken place between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church as a whole. Sometimes, this complexity makes dialogue and its progress slower, but its purpose warrants the need for a clarification and an agreement that embrace everyone”. Mgr. Fortino goes on: “The most intensive fraternal relations between the Churches are essential for the true progress of dialogue. In the past, a lot has been rightly said about the dialogue of charity as a prerequisite of theological dialogue. On one side, the dialogue of charity makes us see, in front of us, a brother, also inspired by faith and attentive to his own conscience, and on the other side it releases the doctrinal issues from any burden that is alien to faith. Such an attitude is extremely necessary in the work that the Commission will carry out in Cyprus, where it will investigate the role of the Bishop of Rome in the life of the Church in the first millennium. Over time, historical judgements and prejudices have been put into this topic, and now they must be examined with exactitude and peace of mind. And keeping an open mind on the future. It would be pointless to look for a full solution in the past”.

© SIR - oct 12th, 2009