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Published
by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,
November 1, 2005
Orthodox-Catholic
Theological Consultation Held Its 69th
Meeting
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November
1, 2005
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological
Consultation held its 69th meeting from October
20 to 22, 2005, in Washington, DC. It took place
on the campus of Georgetown University, and was
co-chaired by Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of
Cincinnati and Bishop Savas of Troas, the
Chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.
Bishop Savas substituted for Metropolitan
Maximos of Pittsburgh who is still recovering
from a recent fall.
The session began with a public lecture by Brian
Daley, SJ, the Catholic co-secretary of the
consultation, in Dahlgren Chapel on Thursday
afternoon. Entitled “Forty Years of
Orthodox-Catholic Relations,” Fr Daley
outlined the history and significance of the
consultation’s achievements in recent decades.
The lecture was given in memory of Fr John Long,
SJ, a member of the consultation since 1980, who
died in September. The President of Georgetown
University, Dr. John J. DeGioia, introduced Fr.
Daley before he spoke and afterwards hosted the
Consultation and guests for a dinner in Riggs
Library. In his remarks before dinner, Dr.
DeGioia congratulated the Consultation on its
40th anniversary, noted several important
decisions it has made in that time, and cited
Cardinal Cassidy's compliment in 2000 that the
work of this Consultation is a "vital
assistance in taking the work of the
International Dialogue ahead."
The Consultation continued its reflection on
primacies and conciliarity in the Church,
beginning at the first theological session with
an examination of two texts. The first was the
1991 Agreed Statement of the Orthodox-Catholic
dialogue in France entitled, “The Roman
Primacy Within the Communion of Churches,” and
the second was an article by Jean-Marie Tillard,
“The Mission of the Bishop of Rome: What is
Essential, What is Expected?” In the second
theological session, the consultation heard a
paper by Rev Thomas FitzGerald, “The
Orthodox-Oriental Orthodox Theological
Dialogue,” and one by Rev Ronald Roberson,
“The Contemporary Relationship of the Catholic
Church with the Oriental Orthodox Churches and
the Assyrian Church of the East.” At the third
theological session, held on Saturday morning,
Rev Nicholas Apostola presented a paper entitled
“Primacy in a Pluralistic Context.”
The Consultation also had its usual Information
Session on Friday evening. Items presented
included the presence of a delegation from the
Ecumenical Patriarchate in Rome in June, the
announcement of readiness of the Orthodox Church
to resume the International Dialogue, and the
September meeting of Orthodox participants in
the dialogue at the Ecumenical Patriarchate;
developments in relations between the Moscow
Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church
Outside of Russia, including the agreed
statement of the two churches entitled
“Relations with the Heterodox”; the transfer
of the headquarters of the Ukrainian Greek
Catholic Church from Lviv to Kiev; the
withdrawal of the Antiochian Archdiocese from
the National Council of Churches; the election
of Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem;
developments in SCOBA; the possible visit of
Pope Benedict XVI to Constantinople; and the
inclusion of two Greek Catholics in the
“Synaxis of the Carpathian Saints” issued by
Metropolitan Nicholas of the American Carpatho-Russian
Orthodox Diocese of the USA.
The members of the Consultation attended a
Catholic Mass in Dahlgren Chapel at noon on
October 21, presided over by Archbishop
Pilarczyk. After the Mass, the Orthodox members
of the Consultation celebrated a memorial
service in memory of the late John Long, SJ.
Four new members of the Consultation were
welcomed at this meeting. The two new Orthodox
members are Dr. John Barnet, Associate Professor
of New Testament at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox
Seminary in Crestwood, New York; and Rev Dr
Theodore Pulcini, Associate Professor of
Religion at Dickinson College in Carlisle,
Pennsylvania. The two new Catholic members are
Sr Susan K. Wood, SCL, Professor in the
Department of Theology at Marquette University;
and Mr Vito Nicastro, Associate Director of the
Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
of the Archdiocese of Boston.
In addition to the two co-chairmen, the other
Orthodox members of the Consultation include
Father Thomas FitzGerald (Secretary), Father
Nicholas Apostola, Prof. Susan Ashbrook Harvey,
Father James Dutko, Prof. Paul Meyendorff,
Father Alexander Golitzin, 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), Prof. Thomas Bird, Father
Peter Galadza, Msgr. John D. Faris, Father John
Galvin, Father Sidney Griffith, ST, Father
Joseph Komonchak, Father David Petras, and
Father Ronald Roberson, CSP (staff).
The 70th meeting of the Consultation is due to
take place from June 5 to 7, 2006, in Boston.
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
Contact:
SCOBA General Secretariat
8 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10021
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