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Group photo of the participants, September 16-17, 2024 Monastery of St. Bishoy, Egypt

Representatives from the Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Churches met at the Logos Papal Center, 16-17 September 2024, Monastery of St. Bishoy, Egypt

 

In a communique, they describe attending a prayer at the Transfiguration Church led by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, who emphasized: “building relations of love in Christ, deepening our understanding of each other, continuous dialogue, and relentless prayers would […] take us all to the heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” and that “ we need to have one Orthodox voice built on a mutual view of global social issues that are forming a great concern now for our churches.” 

His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, underlined in his message: “Our concern for and our dedication to the task of Christian unity […] springing from a sense of responsibility and from the conviction that mutual understanding and cooperation are of fundamental importance if we never wish to ‘put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ,’(I Cor. 9:12) with the common goal being ‘the ultimate restoration of unity in true faith and love.’ ”

The two co-chairs of the Joint Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, H.E. Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and H.E. Metropolitan Thomas of Quosia and Mir (Coptic Orthodox Church) made introductions regarding the previous stages and achievements of the dialogue, and recommendations for future steps.  

“The representatives of the two Orthodox families met in an atmosphere of Christian fraternal love in the round table,” reads the communique. “An intense and fruitful discussion took place.”

Separate meetings of the families discussed the issues from the perspective of each family followed by a series of plenary sessions.

“Furthermore, with one voice and in faithfulness to our shared theological, biblical and patristic tradition, all members raised the issue of the crisis surrounding family matters and anthropological challenges present in today’s secular society,” reads the communique. “As 2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the first ecumenical council of Nicaea, and Christians around the world will celebrate Pascha at the same date, the representatives of the two families expressed their wish that all Christians in the whole world celebrate Pascha following the canonical tradition of Nicaea and the Orthodox Paschalion.”