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Documents on Unity in Faith Peter Hofrichter / Johann Marte (ed.) Documents on XXXVI Unity in Faith between the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church this clarifi cation. However, in order to at last reach sacramental unity now that unity in faith has been established, the achievements thus impressive. The enthronization of the new Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and the forthcoming election of a new patriarch for the these interchurch relations. The time is therefore right to review the PRO ORIENTE XXXVI DOCUMENTS ON UNITY IN FAITH BETWEEN THE ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES AND THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Edited by Peter Hofrichter and Johann Marte TYROLIA VERLAG • INNSBRUCK-WIEN The cover shows the oldest known byzantine icon of Christ, encaustic on panel, 6th century, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. The two different facial expressions on either side are sometimes understood as pointing to Christ's two natures fully God and fully human. The background displays some lines of the Our-Father in the languages Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Armenian, and English written on ceramic tiles in the Carmelite Convent on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Mitglied der Verlagsgruppe „engagement“ Bibliografische Information Der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. 2013 © Verlagsanstalt Tyrolia, Innsbruck Umschlaggestaltung: Tyrolia-Verlag Druck und Bindung: Alcione, Lavis (I) ISBN 978-3-7022-3267-2 E-Mail: [email protected] Internet: www.tyrolia-verlag.at Table of Contence Address of Christoph Cardinal Schönborn 7 Preface of the Editors 9 Communiqué: Meeting of Old Friends of Pro Oriente 2012 11 Communiqué: First Consultation, Vienna 1971 13 Franciscus Cardinal König: Opening Speech 1973 17 Common Declarations and Agreements between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches 1970-2000 Paul VI and Vasken I, 1970 21 Paul VI and Ignatius Yacoub III, 1971 23 Paul VI and Shenuda III, 1973 25 John Paul II and Shenuda III, 1979 29 John Paul II and Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, 1984 35 Shenuda III and Stephanos II Ghattas etc., 1988 39 John Paul II to Shenuda III, 1988 43 Rom. Cath. and Malankara Orth. Syrian Church, 1989/1990 45 Rom. Cath. and Malankara Syrian Orth. Church, 1994 49 John Paul II and Karekin I Sarkissian, 1996 53 John Paul II and Aram I Keshishian, 1997 57 John Paul II and Karekin II Nersessian, 2000 61 Official Dialogue: Agreed Document on Nature, Constitution and Mission of the Church, 2009 65 Other Agreements of Interest Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches I, 1989 91 Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches II, 1990 97 Mardhinkha and John Paul II, 1994 103 From the Vienna Non-Official Dialogue Wilhelm de Vries, The Reasons for the Rejection of the Council of Chalcedon by the Oriental Orthodox Churches (1971) 107 Mesrob Krikorian, The Theological Significance of the Results of the Fife Vienna Consultations (1991) 121 The Heads of the Churches from 1970 till to the Present 143 7 KARDINAL DR. CHRISTOPH SCHÖNBORN ERZBISCHOF VON WIEN Vienna, January 2013 Thankfully, we look back on forty years of growing mutual under- standing und increasing awareness of unity in faith between the Roman Catholic and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. These forty years coincided with the reign of the great Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Pope Shenuda III. who had inaugurated this unexpect- ed development 1971 in Vienna shortly before his elevation to the throne of St. Mark and who was called into God’s glory a few months ago. Certainly it is now the right time to praise the Lord for all graces He has given to our churches during this time till now, and to pray to the Holy Spirit that he may illuminate us how to continue on this way. May the collection of the amazing results of the ecumenical dialogue already existing encourage us to pro- ceed towards what our Lord is waiting for, namely that all should be united. May He teach us the ways and the manner how He wishes this vision to be approached and realized. Epiphany 2013 + Christoph Card. Schönborn 9 Preface of the Editors It is true that the ecumenical process among the ancient apostolic Churches have remained without visible progress during the last 15 years. Although unity in faith has been already officially agreed by theologians and solemnly declared by several heads of the Churches the relations between the Churches scarcely have changed. Moreover the results already achieved are going to be forgotten again. Church life continues as always before, and young faithful increasingly are unfortunately no longer interested in ecumenism at all. They don’t know any more why their Chur- ches have been divided in history nor that the doctrinal reasons of ancient separations do no longer exist. A small group of friends of PRO ORIENTE in Vienna, some of whom were involved in the unofficial dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches from the beginning, met in March 2012 in Vienna. The participants recom- manded that PRO ORIENTE should publish a booklet with the agreements and common declarations already existing. The col- lection here presented comprises the important official documents on unity of faith issued by the heads of the Churches themselves or in view cases by their representatives. Many of these texts have already been published by PRO ORIENTE more than twenty years ago in the “The Vienna Dialogue, Booklet Nr. 1” and most of them are now accessible also on the internet. Most links are to be found on the home page of PRO ORIENTE: http://www.pro- oriente.at/?site=st20050213122043. But to have the whole collec- tion at hand and on ones book shelf is something different. Much will depend on how it can be brought to pastors and faithfull. In order to make this new publication as informative and compre- hensive as possible we decided to include also the agreements between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches and between the Catholic Church and the Church of the East. 10 For better understanding two scolarly papers already existing were added. A short paper read by Prof. Wilhelm de Vries during the first Vienna Consultation may remind the reader of the reasons and of the history of the separation of our Churches one and a half thousand years ago. And a review of the five Vienna Consultations held in the framework of PRO ORIENTE during the 70ies and 80ies of the past century is given by Archbishop K. Mesrob Krikorian who as a pioneer of ecumenism had initiated this non-official project of reconciliation. We hope that this re-publication of documents will encourage and enforce the Churches concerned to renew their efforts on the way of pastoral cooperation and of giving witness to our common heritage of faith. Prof. Peter L. Hofrichter Dr. Johann Marte, President 11 Meeting of Old Friends of PRO ORIENTE Vienna 29-30 March 2012 COMMUNIQUÉ In view of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the 2nd Vatican Council some participants of the first unofficial Consultations and Study Seminars of PRO ORIENTE with theologians of the Roman Catholic and the Oriental Orthodox Churches took the initiative for a small meeting in Vienna. The idea was to discuss how the ecumenical process between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches that had started in Vienna soon after the 2nd Vatican Council with great success but in the meantime slowed down, could gain back its former dynamics. The partici- pants were convinced that the reception and implementation of the agreements of the past 40 years by the churches concerned has to be resumed. The common opinion of the participants of the meeting was that unity in faith among Christians could not wait till all theological questions between Churches would be wholly solved. Unity as a term is loaded with fears and historical memo- ries. One should prefer to speak of cooperation. Our oneness in spirit is already given. Realistic targets could be regular meetings of the local bishops of different Churches, common events and celebrations, and may be even a Round Table of the heads of the different Churches. Concrete proposals were made how PRO ORIENTE and the participants of this meeting could set in move and accelerate some necessary steps for the reception, acceptance and implementation of the agreements already achieved in the past. The participants of the meeting agreed to start a special Study Group on Models of visible Unity in the framework of PRO ORIENTE and to meet again from 9-11 November 2012 in Beirut, Lebanon. The participants were: President Dr. Hans Marte, Prof. Dr. Peter Hofrichter, Metropolitan Mar Gregorios Jouhanna Ibrahim, Arch- bishop Dr. Mesrob Krikorian, Msgr. Prof. Dr. Philipp Harnon- court, Rev. Prof. Dr. Baby Varghese, Mag. Aho Shemon Kasho. 13 First Non-official Ecumenical Consultation between Theologians of the Oriental Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches organized by the Foundation PRO ORIENTE Vienna, September 7-12, 1971. COMMUNIQUÉ The Roman Catholic and the Oriental Orthodox Theologians, gathered together in Vienna from September 7th to 12th, 1971, for an “unofficial Ecumenical Consultation” at the invitation of the Foundation PRO ORIENTE have agreed on the following sta- tement: “We, as Christians, feel united in a spirit of brotherhood in our faith in the one Lord Jesus Christ, God and Saviour, and re- cognise equally the commission and prayer of our Lord that we may all be one in Him in order that we may bear common witness to Him that the world may believe (John 17, 21). We find our common basis in the same Apostolic tradition, particularly as affirmed in the Nicean-Constantinopolitan Creed; we all confess the dogmatic decisions and teachings of Nicea (325), Constantinople (381) and Ephesus (431); we all agree in rejecting both the Nestorian and Eutychian positions about Jesus Christ.
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