Catholic-Oriental Orthodox dialogue to focus on church as communion

Published: 2004-02-04

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The first stage of the official dialogue between the Roman Catholic and Oriental Orthodox churches will focus on the identity of a church as a communion and on degrees of unity among church communities. Catholic experts appointed by the Vatican and representatives of Oriental Orthodox churches met in Egypt Jan. 27-30 for the inaugural session of their official joint theological dialogue. The dialogue is sponsored by the Vatican and by the Coptic Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox and Malankara Orthodox Syrian churches, although not all of them participated in the meeting in Egypt. According to a statement released Feb. 4 at the Vatican, the participants began by reviewing agreements reached through unofficial Catholic-Oriental Orthodox dialogues and through official Vatican dialogues with each individual church.

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