The long and winding road: Catholic-Orthodox relations inch forward

Published: 2004-01-23

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- One look at the Roman Catholic-Orthodox dialogue would prove that the search for Christian unity is not a neat and orderly negotiation process. The scholarly international Catholic-Orthodox theological dialogue commission has not met since 2000 because of objections raised by individual Orthodox churches that have experienced local tensions with the Catholic Church. Yet, at the same time, Catholic contacts with many of the individual churches are closer and warmer than ever. A case in point involves the Orthodox Church of Greece, for years reluctant to engage in any kind of rapprochement with the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II visited Greek Orthodox leaders in Greece in 2001; a delegation from the Greek synod visited the Vatican in 2002; and Vatican officials went to Greece for top-level meetings in 2003. But the improved relations run deeper than the top levels of the churches. Catholic and Greek Orthodox theologians have participated in each other's seminars, and a group of Greek Orthodox priests visited Rome in September for a first-hand look at Catholic parishes and lay movements.

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