“Ecumenism: Hopes and Challenges for the New Century” The 16TH International Congress of Jesuit Ecumenists P A E R S Maryut Retreat House, Alexandria, Egypt 4-12 July 2001 Secretariat for Interreligious Dialogue; Curia S.J., C.P. 6139, 00195 Roma Prati, Italy; tel. (39)-06.689.77.567/8; fax: 06.687.5101; e-mail:
[email protected] JESUIT ECUMENISTS MEET IN ALEXANDRIA Daniel Madigan, S.J. A full programme, oganized expertly by Henri Boulad (PRO), kept the 30 particpants (from all six continents) busy throughout the working days and evenings, and on the Sunday the group was able to visit the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of St. Makarios. A message from Fr. General underlined the importance of the ecumenical venture among the Society's priorities, and a select number of the participants had been involved with the group since its inception. The agenda ranged widely, focussing in part on ecumenical issues in the complex ecclesial reality of the Middle East, but also on recent developments in the wider ecumenical sphere. We had the opportunity to meet with clergy and laypeople from the Coptic Orthodox and Coptic Evanglical churches, as well as with Muslims. Jacques Masson (PRO) and Christian van Nispen (PRO), with their long years of experience and study of the Church in Egypt introduced us to various of its aspects. Jacques Masson surveyed some of the ecumenical history of the oriental Churches and agreements reached especially among the Chalcedonian and non- Chalcedonian churches in recent years. Victor Chelhot (PRO) from Damascus presented developments in the local attempts to remove the obstacles to unity between the Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches of Antioch.