Ecumenical

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Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew tells the Secretary of State that she holds within her “extensive world-view a remarkable comprehension of global political, economic and religious circumstances. In addition to understanding what is power and might, you know as well what is holy and right.”
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Address of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the Dinner Honoring Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Benjamin Franklin Room, The State Department, Washington, November 5, 2009:

Good evening, and please be seated. I want to welcome all of you to the Ben Franklin Room here on the eighth floor of the State Department for such a special occasion. It is indeed an honor for me to welcome His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, whom I have had the great honor and personal pleasure of getting to know over the years. And I know we have a number of other very distinguished representatives, His Eminence Geron Metropolitan Athanasios of Chalcedon, His Eminence Metropolitan Ambrosios of Korea, and, of course, a personal friend of mine, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, who is celebrating his 10th anniversary here in America.

His All Holiness and I have had the pleasure of meeting a number of times since I first visited him as First Lady at the Patriarchate in 1995, but one of our most memorable times together came when Archbishop was enthroned in New York 10 years ago. A lot has happened in the intervening decade, but one thing that has not changed is his All Holiness’s commitment not only to his church and to the people of the church, but to the world, and the work that he has done, which is so important to us all. Continue reading →

SCOBA has released the joint response of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation to the international dialogue’s 2007 “Ravenna Document.” This took place at the Consultation’s 77th meeting, held at Saint Paul’s College in Washington, from October 22-24, 2009. It was presided over by Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh and Roman Catholic Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops also released a statement on Ravenna.

Catholic Culture said that North American statement was “a candid critique of the 2007 ‘Ravenna document,’ a modest milestone in Catholic-Orthodox ecumenical relations.” Continue reading →

From the Zenit news service story, With Orthodox: “Little Steps, the Right Direction.”

The Vatican’s official for promoting Christian unity has characterized the most recent session of dialogue with the Orthodox as “little steps forward in the right direction.”

This was the estimation given by Cardinal Walter Kasper to Vatican Radio today as he evaluated the 11th plenary session of the International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. The weeklong session ended Oct. 23 in Paphos.

Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said the steps forward are “small and slow,” precisely because the topic under discussion is “very complex — a theme that has carried an emotional weight for many centuries.”

The commission was discussing “The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church in the First Millennium.”

“What is important, nevertheless,” the cardinal continued, “is that — despite some demonstrations by a few protestors, above all from the Church of Greece — all of the Orthodox representatives have decided that the dialogue should continue.”

“The relationship between the Catholic and Orthodox members of the commission has been very good, friendly and tranquil,” he added.

See you next year in Vienna:

According to a statement released by the dialogue commission Oct. 23, the commission’s Orthodox members discussed “the negative reactions to the dialogue by certain Orthodox circles and unanimously considered them as totally unfounded and unacceptable, providing false and misleading information.”

The Orthodox delegates “reaffirmed that the dialogue continues with the decision of all the Orthodox churches and is pursued with faithfulness to the truth and the tradition of the church,” said the statement released in Cyprus and at the Vatican.

At the Catholic Mass Oct. 17, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and head of the Catholic delegation, “stressed that the spirit of humility and love should prevail in the work” of the commission.

Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, host of the meeting, presided over the Orthodox Divine Liturgy Oct. 18. He said all the Orthodox churches are committed to a dialogue that holds firmly to the teachings of the ecumenical councils and the Fathers of the Church of the first 1,000 years of Christianity.

The joint sessions of the dialogue focused on discussing a draft report, “The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church in the First Millennium.” After discussing and amending the text, the commission decided to finalize it next September during a meeting in Vienna, Austria, the statement said.

Read “As some protest, Catholic-Orthodox dialogue discusses role of papacy” on the Catholic News Service.