Washington D.C., Oct 27, 2005 / 22:00 pm
More than a dozen clerics and theologians gathered in Washington last week to consider and discuss the advancements in Orthodox-Catholic relations, in particular in the last 40 years.
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation held its 69th meeting Oct. 20-22 at Georgetown University. It 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.
Fr. Brian Daley, SJ, began the session with a public lecture entitled “Forty Years of Orthodox-Catholic Relations.” He provided the history and significance of the consultation’s achievements in recent decades.
Participants continued their reflection 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.” The second was an article by Jean-Marie Tillard, “The Mission of the Bishop of Rome: What is Essential, What is Expected?”