Spirit of friendship

The eleventh reunion of The International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church held in Cyprus on October 16-23 addressed the theme of “The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church in the First Millennium”. The meeting was marked by “spirit of friendship and faithful cooperation”, states the joint communiqué in English and French posted on the website http://www.orthodoxie.com. 20 Catholic members and 20 representatives of all Orthodox Churches (with the exception of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria) progressed in their reflection on a document that was the object of several meetings (the last were held in Ravenna in 2007 and in Crete in 2008). In Cyprus the Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue “analyzed with great care and amended the draft of the Mixed Coordination Committee” and decided to complete its work on the text during next year’s plenary session hosted by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn in Vienna on September 20-27 2010. For this reason, is written in the communiqué, “no declaration was adopted nor was a text endorsed for diffusion”. The question from the Orthodox viewpoint. As customary, on the first day of the meeting Catholic and Orthodox representatives convened separately to coordinate the working sessions. “Orthodox representatives discussed the negative reactions to dialogue displayed by specific Orthodox environments”, states the communiqué. Strong reactions were registered in Greece where the dialogue regarding the primacy of the Pope is viewed with much concern. Indeed, the “Faith Commission against Ecumenism” was set up in April. Some Orthodox milieus (mostly Greek) fear that the Catholic Church encounter for dialogue in Ravenna was the occasion to hasten the pace for an agreement on the question of Petrine ministry. In September, both the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew and Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon (who co-chairs the dialogue Commission with Cardinal Walter Kasper from the Pontifical Council, conveyed their firm response. The Patriarch wrote a personal letter to His Beatitude Hieronymos, archbishop of Athens and Primate of all Greece, describing this criticism as “inappropriate” and “untimely” calling everyone to responsibility. The advocacy of the Metropolitan of Pergamon. In an interview released to Cypriot journalist Aristides Viketos from “Apa.apm” news agency after the meeting in Cyprus, the Metropolitan of Pergamon advocated the importance of dialogue. “Who said, he asked, that engaging in dialogue necessarily entails renouncing one’s stances”? And “in which case ever did dialogue lead to cession?” With reference to the dogmas pronounced by Church Fathers and promulgated by the Ecumenical Council he added: “I know of no Orthodox faithful who renounced or changed these dogmas in the framework of the ecumenical movement”. The Metropolitan declared that “all Orthodox Churches” attended the dialogue in Cyprus, sending their own delegates. “This proves once again that there is a pan-Orthodox intention”. The Metropolitan bishop also referred to the widespread fear of an upcoming reunification of the Churches. These are “ridiculous” “rumors” of the media”, he claimed. “First of all because the Dialogue Commission is a consultative organ and thus has no authority”, and secondly “because there still many hanging questions that need to be addressed, and we expect it to be a very long journey”. The Metropolitan voiced a call to responsibility. “God guides the course of history”, he said. “Those who proclaim that Church unity is impossible are indeed taking charge of a future, which is in the hands of God. Who are we to prejudice this future? We are called to be relentlessly engaged in the faith that we inherited to accomplish the prayer” of unity. The decision of the Orthodox Churches. The plenary meeting in Cyprus was attended by the delegates of all the Orthodox Churches, with the exception of the Patriarch of Bulgaria: representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, of the Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antiochia, Jerusalem, Moscow, Serbia, Romania, Georgia, and of the Orthodox Churches of Cyprus, that “generously” hosted the meeting, of Greece, Poland, Albania, of the Czech Lands and of Slovakia. During the Orthodox meeting held before the plenary session participants addressed, among others, the “negative reactions to dialogue” and “unanimously considered these as being unfounded and unacceptable since they diffuse false and misleading information”. All Orthodox members thus reaffirmed that “dialogue continues” and “is pursued with faithfulness to the Truth and to Church Tradition”.