Catholics, Oriental Orthodox hold dialogue on evangelization

Published: 2004-06-17

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Evangelization was the main topic of a June 7-8 meeting of the Oriental Orthodox-Roman Catholic Theological Consultation at the Passionist Spiritual Center in New York. Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., and Chorbishop John Meno of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch jointly chaired the meeting. From an Oriental Orthodox perspective, Coptic Orthodox theologian and seminary professor Father Athanasius K. Farag presented his church's theology of evangelization. He said the mission of the Coptic Church in the United States involves four main elements: providing spiritual care for first-generation Copts who have immigrated from Egypt; communicating the spiritual life to children, especially in areas where there are few other Copts to provide support; reaching out to other Christians in the country, preaching to nonbelievers and responding to the spiritual hunger of many Americans through proclamation and personal witness; and making the Coptic heritage accessible to more Americans by providing English translations of Coptic patristic and contemporary sources.

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