Positive perspective

“We found a common language in Ravenna”. For this reason the document on authority and conciliarity in the Church made public on Thursday November 15 by the “International Mixed Commission for theological dialogue between Rome’s Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church is “particularly important”. This position was highlighted by Mons. ELEUTERIO F. FORTINO , undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and co-Secretary (with Metropolitan Gennadios di Sassima from the Ecumenical Patriarchate) of the Mixed Commission for Dialogue. We asked him to explain the ecumenical relevance of the document, the perspectives it opens up in theological dialogue and the problems that still need to be solved.Which sign of hope does this document represent for the future of dialogue?“The document of the International mixed Commission on theological dialogue between the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches is especially significant since it introduces dialogue with the Orthodox focusing on a crucial point of the debate between the two. This is the role of the primacy of the bishop of Rome in the Church of Christ and the approach is a positive one. In Ravenna we found a common language. The document on authority and conciliarity on the Church ascertained that these two dimensions to be articulated together are realized at three levels: at local level (diocese), regional level (metropolites, patriarchates, and other forms of authority) and universal. In each of these levels there is a protos, a primis. The common document acknowledges that the primacy is at all levels “a practice which is firmly founded” in the canonical tradition of the Church. It realistically adds two statements: a) the fact that the primacy at universal level is accepted by the East and by the West; b) however “there are differences in understanding the way in which it should be practiced and its Scriptural and theological foundations”. Are there still many open issues?“The Commission is fully aware of them and it intends to strengthen them starting from the history of the Church, bearing in mind its tradition and evolution throughout history. For this purpose it has already indicated to study in the next plenary session “The role of the Bishop of Rome in communion with the Church in the first millennium”. The next step will be to look into the same topic after the scism, which took place at the beginning of the second millennium. Then debates will focus on how the issue of primacy is seen today in view of identifying, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the definitive solution in full Catholic-Orthodox agreement. Therefore dialogue is open and its prospects are good”. Did the Russian question interfere with the work of the mixed commission?“It obviously did. This dialogue was agreed upon and opened after a long preparation period (1964-1979) on the basis of a platform which includes the Catholic Church in the variety of its components (Roman, Byzantine and Eastern) and the Orthodox Church as a whole, with all the autocefalous Churches. This platform was agreed upon by all the Orthodox Churches. The fact that in Ravenna the delegation of Moscow’s Patriarchate left the session for an inner problem relating to the communion of Orthodox Churches (the present of Estonian Church delegates which Moscow’s patriarchate publicly adverses, although the Catholic Church is not involved) causes an evident interference in the dialogue. The Catholic members of the mixed Commission expressed their profound uneasiness and the living hope that the dispute between Moscow and Constantinople is soon positively clarified. It is therefore the task of the Orthodox party to reassemble the entire delegation for dialogue. After all, since those delegates were absent when the document was approved, it is also a matter of favoring their reception of it. It is necessary to promote this approach for the benefit of the normal prosecution of dialogue.Which contribution can European Churches give to theological work?“In view of ecumenical dialogue, and also for this dialogue, a positive contribution to theological dialogue can be given by the various Churches, not only in Europe but also at worldwide level. As relates to the Catholic Church, she is committed in this direction. Concerns are related to “the entire Church”, as affirmed in the Decree on Ecumenism (UR,5). Dialogue employs all the theological resources: the resaerch for the faculty; teaching at various levels; dissemination of ecumenical spirit in the broad field of Christian life. In Europe it can be affirmed that the various Higher Institutes of historical, theological, and canonical research can give precious contribution. Much longed for”.