NEW YORK, NY—His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, attended the first meeting of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan and Bishop Nareg Alemezian, Ecumenical Officer of the Cilician See, were the official representatives of the Great House of Cilicia, Antelias, Lebanon.

Catholic and Oriental Orthodox representatives, delegated by their churches, met from January 27 to 30, as members of the International Joint Commission, under the co-chairmanship of His Eminence Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and His Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy of Damiette, General Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

His Eminence Archbishop Dr. Mesrob Krikorian, Primate of Vienna, and V. Rev. Fr. Gabriel Sargysyan, a student in Egypt, represented the Catholicate of All Armenians, Etchmiadzin, Armenia.

The meeting took place in Cairo, Egypt, at the Saint Mark Center, hosted by His Holiness Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark. Invited to participate in this meeting were: the Coptic Orthodox Church, Syrian Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church (Catholicate of All Armenians and Catholicate of Cilicia), Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Eritrean Orthodox Church. The same invitation was sent to the Catholic members through the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The Oriental Orthodox Churches are those churches that do not subscribe to the canons of the Council of Chalcedon. In their opening address the co-chairmen underscored the importance of the meeting marking the beginning of a new official theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches as a family.

On behalf of Pope Shenouda III, Metropolitan Bishoy welcomed the participants who on Wednesday evening, January 28, had the opportunity to participate at the weekly sermon offered by His Holiness at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo. His Holiness greeted all members of the delegation and recommended the new dialogue to the prayers of the faithful. In response, H. E. Cardinal Walter Kasper conveyed the brotherly greetings and presented a gift on behalf of H. H. Pope John Paul II. The Cardinal confirmed that Catholic and Oriental Orthodox faithful are united in the same faith in the Triune God and in the Savior Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, that they venerate in common the Blessed Virgin Mary and that they share as common fathers and teachers of the Church, Saint Athanasius and Saint Cyril of Alexandria. On Thursday afternoon, January 29, Pope Shenouda III came to Saint Mark Center to greet and bless the Joint Commission, wishing full success as he presented gifts to all of the participants.

The first part of the meeting was dedicated to consideration of the many studies and activities that have taken place the past 30 years during unofficial and official meetings. The papers presented at this time showed that considerable work has been done, all of which will be helpful for the future dialogue of the commission.

During the second part of the meeting, the Workplan and Agenda for the Dialogue as established by the Preparatory Committee Report was considered. It was decided that the next meeting, which will take place next January in Rome, will deal with the first part of ecclesiology, Church as communion, including: understanding of communion; constitutive elements of communion; particular and universal communion; full communion and degrees of communion; meaning of sister churches; meaning of church families; common ecumenical goals.

“This first official joint dialogue was very promising,” said Archbishop Oshagan. “We prayed together, broke bread together, and we discussed issues in a cordial and intellectual atmosphere. The ease of this first-ever official joint dialogue can certainly be attributed in large measure to the informal dialogues, joint declarations, and ecumenical encounters during the past several decades. His Holiness Aram I has also been instrumental by the importance he has placed on such dialogue for the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Catholic Church, and the worldwide Ecumenical Movement."

Archbishop Oshagan and Pope Shnouda III

Cardinal Walter Kasper, Pope Shnouda III, Amba Bishoy, Bishop Nareg

Participants of the Official Theological Dialogue between the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church pose for a group photo