A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 22 - Tuesday, June 1st, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW I AND MELKITE PATRIARCH GREGORY III ADDRESS CATHOLIC-ORTHODOX MEETING Istanbul, Turkey [Constantinople] May 14, 2004 -- In the ancient city of Constantinople where East meets West, Eastern and Western Christians met from May 10th through the 14th. Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholics, Roman Catholics and other Christians gathered to discuss and learn about their respective traditions. They reflected on the common ground that unites and the differences that still separate the "sister Churches." The Orientale Lumen EuroEast I Conference provided a milieu of love and understanding on the theme of "Liturgy as a Foundation for Dialogue." Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, warmly greeted participants and addressed the gathering. "We firmly believe that this is a noble and necessary endeavor, which serves the cause of reconciliation and unity," said the Orthodox spiritual leader. Reflecting with deep emotion on his own experience of the separation of Catholics and Orthodox, Patriarch Gregory III of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church said in his presentation that the Orthodox in his liturgies are paradoxically "always present yet always absent." Archbishop Vsevolod of Scopelos began his talk saying, "We are on the threshold of unity" referring to the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. When asked in the following discussion for specific details of what he meant, the Archbishop simply said, "because we are here!" Archbishop Vsevolod is of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. Others speakers were Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, Greek Orthodox Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, Archimandrite Robert Taft, S.J., of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, and Father Raymond Collins, Professor of Sacred Scripture of The Catholic University of America. The conference moderator was the Reverend Dr. Robert Gribben, Professor of Worship and Mission, Ormond College, University of Melbourne, Australia. Participants in this scholarly conference for laity, religious and clergy also prayed together in range of services, attended Catholic and Orthodox Divine Liturgies, toured churches of the city and the Ecumenical Patriarchate Cathedral of Saint George and complex. On May 11th the conference was held at the Halki Theological Seminary on one of the Prince's Islands in the Sea of Marmara. A similar conference called Orientale Lumen VIII will be held June 21 through June 24 at the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, DC.
Further information can be found at
www.olconference.com or by calling
1-703-691-8862. |
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