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JOINT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN
THE ORTHODOX CHURCH AND THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
COMMISSION MIXTE INTERNATIONALE POUR LE DIALOGUE THEOLOGIQUE ENTRE
L’ EGLISE ORTHODOXE ET L’ EGLISE CATHOLIQUE ROMAINE
Belgrade, Serbia, 18-25 September 2006
The ninth meeting of the
Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox
Church and the Roman Catholic Church met in Belgrade, Serbia, from 18-25
September 2006, continuing the work begun in 1980 to seek the restoration of
full communion. The Orthodox Church of Serbia generously provided hospitality
for the meeting. The official opening took place in the patriarchal chapel of
the Serbian Patriarchate in the presence of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle who
welcomed the members of the Commission and offered his prayerful support,
saying : “…Welcome all of you, to this house of God of our Church and of our
people and my home! My humble prayer shall cover your Theological Dialogue of
love and truth, for that is why you have gathered here. Of far greater
significance, even of sole importance, is that all of you be strengthened by the
grace of the Holy Spirit, which rectifies all of our shortcomings and heals all
of our weaknesses”. The Commission invoked the Holy Spirit on its work.
At the first working session in the Sava International Centre, the Co-Presidents
H.E. Cardinal Walter Kasper and H.E. Metropolitan John of Pergamon introduced
the work of the Commission, and H.E. Metropolitan Jovan of Zagreb welcomed all
present on behalf of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Prime
Minister of Serbia, Dr Vojislav Koštunica, addressed the Commission, affirming
that: “...The Churches of the East and West are setting an extraordinary example
by means of their dialogue, and this theological meeting in Belgrade represents
a reference point on the way. The greatest gift to contemporary humanity would
be – to convince people, perhaps first and foremost the political elites, that
dialogue has no alternative and that every form of application of force,
dictate or imposition of one’s own models and solutions-in service of primarily
personal interests-destroys the last remaining bridges between confronted
peoples and communities, instead of building of peace, confidence, solidarity
and cooperation…”. He also hosted a reception and dinner for all the
participants.
The Joint Commission is composed of 30 Orthodox and 30 Roman Catholic members,
and is chaired by two Co-Presidents, H.E. Cardinal Walter Kasper and H.E.
Metropolitan John of Pergamon (Ecumenical Patriarchate). H.E. Metropolitan
Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and Monsignor Eleuterio Fortino
from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, serve as the Joint
Commission’s Secretaries. The entire Roman Catholic delegation was present in
the Belgrade meeting except for two members who were unable to attend. Orthodox
members represented the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria
and All Africa, the Patriarchate of Antioch, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the
Patriarchate of Moscow, the Patriarchate of Serbia, the Patriarchate of Romania,
the Patriarchate of Georgia, the Church of Cyprus, the Church of Greece, the
Church of Poland, the Church of Albania, the Church of Czech Lands and Slovakia
and the Church of Finland.
The Joint Commission discussed a text entitled: ”The Ecclesiological and
Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church: Conciliarity and
Authority in the Church”, at three levels of the Church’s life: local, regional
and universal. That text prepared by the Joint Coordinating Committee in Moscow
in 1990, which was to have been presented at the plenary meeting of the Joint
Commission in Freising, Germany the same year, but was not discussed then or
later because events taking place in Eastern Europe at that time obliged the
Commission to address the issue of “uniatism” in relation to the ecumenical
dialogue. In the present meeting the document prepared in Moscow was carefully
examined in a shared spirit of genuine commitment to the search for unity.
A Joint Drafting Committee was appointed to revise the text in the light of the
many observations and comments made during the discussion on the text. A revised
text will be the object of discussion at the next meeting of the Joint
Commission which will be hosted by the Roman Catholic Church, next year, 2007.
During the week-long meeting the Roman Catholic delegates were present at the
Orthodox Divine Liturgy in St. Mark’s Church on the Feast of the Nativity of
the Mother of God, the Theotokos, and the Orthodox members in a Mass at the
Roman Catholic Cathedral of Ascension of the Holy Virgin of Belgrade at the
invitation of the Archbishop Stanislav Hočevar. The members of the Commission
also had the opportunity to visit the historic Ravanica Monastery. A dinner was
offered in the Monastery by H.E. Bishop Ignatij of Branichevo. On Sunday evening
the President of Serbia His Excellency Boris Tadić hosted a dinner at his
residence in honour of the Commission.
The meeting of the Joint Committee was marked by a spirit of friendship and
trustful collaboration. The members of the Committee greatly appreciated the
generous hospitality of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and they strongly commend
the ongoing work of the dialogue to the prayers of the faithful.
Belgrade, Serbia, 24 September 2006.