|
|
|
Published
by the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,
November 2, 2004
67th
Meeting of the North American
Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation |
 |
 |
The
North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological
Consultation continued its reflection on primacies
and conciliarity in our churches when it met at
St. Paul's College in Washington, DC, from October
21 to 23, 2004. The meeting, the 67th since the
Consultation was founded in 1965, was co-chaired
by Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati and
Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh.
The session began with an update on the
Consultation's Agreed Statement, "The Filioque: A
Church-Dividing Issue?" that was released one year
ago. A Spanish translation has just been finished
and posted on the USCCB and SCOBA websites. In
addition, the members decided to introduce a
modification in the middle of the tenth paragraph
of the document regarding the reference to the
work of Hilary of Poitiers. The sentence will now
read: "Hilary of Poitiers, in the mid-fourth
century, in the same work speaks of the Spirit as
'coming forth from the Father' and being 'sent by
the Son' (12:55); as being 'from the Father
through the Son' (12:56); and as 'having the
Father and the Son as his source' (2.29)." This
modification was accepted as a friendly amendment
that does not change the meaning of the text but
increases the clarity and accuracy of the
reference to Hilary's position.
The Consultation heard a number of presentations
in view of its study of conciliarity and primacies
in the Church. Fr. Brian Daley, SJ, offered an
analysis of the contents of Pope John Paul II's
1995 encyclical "Ut Unum Sint". Metropolitan
Maximos read his paper examining the theology of
John Zizioulas, now the Metropolitan of Pergamon,
entitled "The Unity of the Church: An Orthodox
Perspective." Fr. Alexander Golitzin offered his
own reflections on Zizioulas' ecclesiology, and
Fr. Ronald Roberson, CSP, presented a brief paper
on a Romanian Orthodox theologian entitled, "Dumitru
Staniloae on Primacy and Conciliarity." Fr. John
Long, SJ, gave an overview of the recent book by
John L. Allen, Jr., "All the Pope's Men: The
Inside Story of How the Vatican Really Thinks."
The Consultation also devoted one session to major
events in the lives of the two churches and recent
developments in Orthodox-Catholic relations.
Topics included the resolution of the dispute
between the Church of Greece and the Ecumenical
Patriarchate; the "Christian Churches Together in
the USA" initiative; Foundation for Faith and
Order; Developments in SCOBA; the prospect of a
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Patriarchate; the 2004
Clergy-Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese; the visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch
to Rome in June 2004; the establishment of the
"St. Irenaeus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working
Group at the Johann-Adam Muhler Institute in
Paderborn, Germany; the return of the Icon of the
Mother of God of Kazan to Moscow; the death of
Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria and All Africa
and the election of Patriarch Theodoros II; and
the very recent decision of the Orthodox Church of
Greece to restore the order of deaconesses.
Archbishop Pilarczyk welcomed a new Catholic
member of the Consultation, Fr. Joseph Komonchak
of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at
the Catholic University of America in Washington.
Fr. Komonchak has extensive background in 19th and
20th century Roman Catholic ecclesiology which
should be particularly useful in the next phase of
the dialogue.
The members of the Consultation were grateful for
the hospitality of the Paulist community at St.
Paul's College, and attended a Mass in the
community chapel on the morning of October 22
presided over by Archbishop Pilarczyk.
The 68th meeting of the Consultation is scheduled
to take place on June 6-8, 2005, at St. Vladimir's
Orthodox School of Theology in Crestwood, New
York.
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological
Consultation is sponsored jointly by the Standing
Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the
Americas (SCOBA), the Bishops' Committee for
Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB),
and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Since its establishment in 1965, the Consultation
has now issued 22 agreed statements on various
topics. All these texts are now available on the
website of the USCCB at: http://www.usccb.org/seia/dialogues.htm
and on the SCOBA website at: http://www.scoba.us/resources/index.asp
In addition to the two co-chairmen, the Orthodox
members of the Consultation include Father Thomas
FitzGerald (Secretary), Archbishop Peter of New
York, Father Nicholas Apostola, Prof. Susan
Ashbrook Harvey, Father James Dutko, Prof. Paul
Meyendorff, Father Alexander Golitzin, Father
Emmanuel Gratsias, Dr. Robert Haddad, Father Paul
Schnierla, Father Robert Stephanopoulos, and
Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos, General Secretary of
SCOBA (staff). The additional Catholic members are
Father Brian Daley, SJ (secretary), Msgr.
Frederick McManus, Prof. Thomas Bird, Father Peter
Galadza, Msgr. John D. Faris, Father John Galvin,
Sister Jean Goulet, CSC, Father Sidney Griffith,
ST, Father Joseph Komonchak, Father John Long, SJ,
Father David Petras, and Father Ronald Roberson,
CSP (staff).
|
