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The Coptic Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Movement

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The Coptic Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Movement THE COPTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH AND THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT BY MAGED ATTIA Copyright © 2001 By Bishopric of Youth Affair PO Box 136 Abasseya, Cairo, Egypt ISBN All rights reserved Foreword: H.H. Pope Shenouda III Author: Maged Attia Printed in Egypt First Edition, 2001 DEDICATION This book is dedicated to His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. His Holiness’ pioneering ecumenical work and tremendous commitment for Christian unity has produced remarkable achievements and milestones for the Christian world in general and the Coptic Orthodox Church in particular. CONTENTS Acknowledgements ................................................................................................v Foreword............................................................................................................... vi Preface.................................................................................................................. vii Chapters 1 Unity and Disunity.................................................................................1 2 The Ecumenical Vision..........................................................................8 3 Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Dialogue ............................13 4 Coptic Orthodox and Catholic Church Dialogue.................................58 5 Coptic Orthodox and Anglican Church Dialogue..............................136 6 Coptic Orthodox and World Alliance of Reformed Churches Dialogue.............................................................................144 7 Coptic Orthodox and Lutheran Church Dialogue..............................165 8 Coptic Orthodox and Presbyterian Church Dialogue ........................166 9 Constructing Bridges of Love............................................................168 10 Ecumenical Organisations.................................................................185 Appendices I Christological Agreement Signed by the Authorities of the Orthodox Churches in the Middle East 1987.....................................198 II Address by H.H Pope Shenouda III at WCC Assembly; Canberra, February 1991 ...................................................................200 III Address by H.H Pope Shenouda III; Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, January 1974............................203 IV Reflections of Orthodox Participants at WCC 7th Assembly; Canberra, February 1991 ...................................................................207 V The Viewpoint of the Coptic Orthodox Church Regarding Ordination of Women; Lambeth 1988 .............................210 iii VI SYNDESMOS Statement; May 1991................................................215 VII Letter from Cardinal Willebrands to Bishop Samuel ........................217 VIII Letter from Cardinal Willebrands and Paul Philippe to Cardinal Sidarous..........................................................................221 IX Letter from H.H. Pope Paul VI to Cardinal Sidarous ........................226 X Telegram from H.H Pope John Paul II to H.H. Pope Shenouda III.....................................................................228 XI Letter from H.H. Pope John Paul II to H.H. Pope Shenouda III .......229 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is with deep gratitude and immense appreciation that I offer my thanks to my Lord Jesus Christ for His aid and guidance, for without Him this book would never have come to fruition. I am very grateful to His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Apostolic See of St. Mark, for crowning this publication with the foreword. To His Grace Bishop Moussa, the Bishop for Youth Affairs, I express my sincere thanks and appreciation for his fatherly love, care and support in embarking upon and completing this book. To the dedicated servants at the Bishopric of Youth Affairs, I express my indebtedness and appreciation for publishing the book. I am most grateful to the following people for their valuable assistance, recommendations and suggestions: Metropolitan Bakhomious of Behara; Metropolitan Bishoy, General Secretary of the Holy Synod; Bishop Antonous Markos, Bishop for African Affairs; Bishop Serapion, Bishop of Los Angeles; Bishop Suriel, Bishop of Melbourne; Reverend Father Marcos Tawfik, former Vice President of NCCA; Very Reverend Father Daniel El Antouny, Executive of NCCA; Reverend David Gill, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia; Dr. Morris Assad, former Associate General Secretary of MECC; Mr Samir Marcos, former Associate General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches (1994-2001); Mr. Girgis Saleh; Reverend Father Isaac Boulos; Dr Joseph Faltas, Head of Ecumenical Studies Unit at Coptic Church Development Institute; Mr. Michael Botros, lecturer of Comparative Religions at the Coptic Theological College; Bishop John Stewart, Anglican Church in Melbourne; Reverend Dr. Gregor Henderson, General Secretary o f the Uniting Church of Australia; Dr. George Malik, Director of The Ecumenical Pastoral Institute in Capetown; Mr. Michael Ibrahim of Australia and Mr. Bishoy Mikhail of USA. A special thanks and appreciation to my wife Mervat for typing and editing the manuscript. v FOREWORD By H.H. Pope Shenouda III Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark vi PREFACE Before His death on the cross, our Lord Jesus prayed to His Father for the unity of the Church, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:21). “Make efforts for unity, there is nothing better than it is”, wrote St. Ignatius of Antioch to St. Policarp of Smyrna. These are evangelical patristic calls, which never lose their topicality. “The whole Christian world”, writes Pope Shenouda III, “is anxious to see the church unite. Christian people – being fed up with divisions and dispersion – are pushing their church leaders to do something about church unity and I am sure that the Holy Spirit is inspiring us”. These empowering words from the Patriarch of Alexandria and one of the Presidents of the World Council of Churches (1991-1998) and one of the Presidents of the Middle East Council of Churches (1994+), reflects the deep commitment of the Coptic Church to the Ecumenical movement. As founding members of the World Council of Churches in 1948 and the All Africa Conference of Churches in 1963 and the Middle East Council of Churches in 1974, the Church of Alexandria has given careful attention to and has worked tirelessly for Christian unity. Over the last five decades, clergy and laity from the Coptic Church have been instrumental in capturing, developing and enhancing the ecumenical vision as articulated by Pope Shenouda. This ecumenical vision is constructed upon unity of faith and not unity of jurisdiction. This has manifested itself in theological dialogue at bilateral and unilateral levels; constructing bridges of love and actively participating in ecumenical organisations at national, regional and international levels. In all these endeavours, the Church fulfils the words of the Scriptures; “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (Ephesians 4:5). This book is far from exhaustive; rather it is an attempt to acquaint the reader with an outline of the Coptic Orthodox Church contribution to the Ecumenical movement over the past five decades. May the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, continue to guide our church’s comprehensive efforts and bless the future work that lies ahead. Thus the visible unity of the one Holy Universal and Apostolic Church can be fully achieved in Christ. MAGED ATTIA, B.A.LLB Sydney, Australia, Pentecost, June 2001 vii CHAPTER 1 UNITY AND DISUNITY THE ONE CHURCH The Lord Jesus Christ established His church, which He purchased with His blood (Acts...). Accordingly, our understanding of the nature and mission of the Church is founded on the Holy Scripture and the Apostolic Tradition handed down in the Church and preserved in her sacramental liturgical life. Furthermore, the writings and canons of the Fathers together with the three ecumenical Councils: Nicea (325), Constantinople (381) and Ephesus (431). The Niceno- Constantinopolitan Creed represents an irreplaceable foundation and expressions of the faith. The essence of the Church was epitomized in the four traditional characteristic notes first enumerated in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381, ie. The Church is one, holy, universal and apostolic. The note of Unity is intimately related to the concept of the Church as “one body in Christ” (Romans 12:5) and as the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:23). The essential elements in Church Unity may be stated in agreement with the teaching of St. Paul (Ephesians 4:4-6; 1 Corinthians 10:17; 12-27) as being the common worship of the one God, the common holding of the one faith, the common possession of the one sacramental life, the common aim at the attainment of the one hope, and the common indwelling by the one Spirit. The Holiness that is the second note of the Church is the organic or objective Holiness, which is constituted by the doctrines and laws and sacraments and aims of the Church as Holy, even if the subjective Holiness, which is the lives of individual members, is not perfect. This organic Holiness is well founded biblically, eg. St. Paul addresses those who are “called to be saints” (Romans 1:7). The Corinthian Church consists of those “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2). St. Paul, while recognising that community
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