History seen as a key to Catholic-Orthodox dialogue

Published: 2005-06-23

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Catholics and Orthodox try to look at ways their exercise of authority diverged in the second millennium, an understanding of history is an important key, a Vatican official told an ecumenical conference in Washington June 22. Msgr. Johan Jozef Bonny, an official of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and rector of the Belgian College in Rome, was one of the featured speakers at Orientale Lumen IX, held June 20-23 at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington. While the shared model of communion held by the churches of East and West in the first millennium stands as a guide and inspiration for a path toward unity, he said, East-West dialogue cannot ignore the changes in church governance since then and the real historical challenges leading to those changes. The conference is a yearly gathering of Orthodox and Catholic theologians and church leaders. It is named after Pope John Paul II's 1995 apostolic letter "Orientale Lumen" ("The Light of the East"), praising the riches of the churches of the East and urging a restoration of East-West church unity. This year's theme was "Structure of the Church East and West."

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .