Communiqué

issued by the Inter-Orthodox Theological Committee for Dialogue
between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches

The Inter-Orthodox Theological Committee for Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches convened at the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, Geneva, from 10-13 March 2005, upon the invitation of His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, to whom we express our utmost gratitude for the generous hospitality that he has extended to us. The purpose of this meeting was to study the outstanding issues and prospects for continuation of the work of the Joint Theological Commission. The work of this special Inter-Orthodox Committee was carried out under the chairmanship of the Orthodox Co-President of the Joint Theological Commission, His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France. Distinguished theologians, clergy and lay people, specialists in this area who had been members in the past of either the Joint Theological Commission, or the Sub-committees on pastoral and liturgical issues, were invited and participated, after the prior agreement of Their Beatitudes, the Primates of the local Holy Orthodox Churches.
Following the message of greeting from the Director of the Orthodox Centre, His Eminence Metropolitan Jeremiah of Switzerland, which was read by His Grace, Bishop Makarios of Lampsakos, the following presentations were made during the proceedings of the Committee: a) on the progress to date and the future prospects of the Dialogue, by the President of this Committee, His Eminence, Metropolitan Emmanuel of France; b) on the criteria for evaluating the theological work of the Joint Theological Commission and on the reactions to these criteria, by the Orthodox Secretary of this Committee, the Esteemed Professor Vlassios Phidas; c) on the importance of the agreement that has been reached on the Christological issue, and on the refutation of those who objected to the interpretation of the recognition of the “Orthodoxy” of the non-Chalcedonians by St. John of Damascus, by the Esteemed Professor George Martzelos; d) on the obscurities of paragraph 8 of the 2nd Agreed Theological Statement, and on the need for these to be clarified, by the Honourable Archon, Mr. Albert Laham; e) on the theological difficulties of Theological Dialogue with the Oriental Orthodox Churches, by the Professor of the Theological Academy of Moscow, Reverend Valentine Asmus; f) on the bilateral relations of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and on the reservations of the Russian Orthodox Church with respect to the text of the Agreed Statements, by the Esteemed Professor of the Theological Academy of Moscow, Mr. Sergei Govorun; and g) on the liturgical problems that have arisen in the rapprochement of the two ecclesiastical families and on ways to address them, by the Esteemed Professor John Fountoulis. His Eminence, Metropolitan Petros of Axum (Patriarchate of Alexandria), His Grace, Bishop Vassilios of Trimythus (Church of Cyprus), the Rev. Dr. Nicolae Necula (Church of Romania), and the Very Rev. Archimandrite Wasrsonofiusz (Church of Poland) participated and contributed constructively to the theological debates during this Committee meeting.  
The in-depth presentations and discussions were of a high level, not only due to the critical evaluation of the truly significant theological work carried out by the Joint Theological Commission, in reference always to the various objections that had been raised by various circles, but also due to the planning required for the future mission of the Joint Theological Commission of correcting the obscurities and/or omissions observed and so that the theological work accomplished can be more fully utilised. The presentations, which expressed many theological, ecclesiological and methodological arguments, could be summarized in the following proposals:
1.    Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the pre-Chalcedonian Oriental Orthodox Churches is particularly important, as it was proclaimed by the relevant unanimous decision of the 3rd Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference (1986), and must therefore be continued to complete the work of both the Joint Theological Commission and the Sub-Committees on the pastoral and liturgical issues.
2.    The Joint Theological Commission has to plan its work, on the one hand in reference to the reservations or criticism expressed, either justified or unjustified, on the ambiguous points in the two Agreed Theological Statements (1989, 1990) and to the consequences deriving from them, and on the other hand in reference to the still pending issues of the two Sub-Committees because only in this way will it be possible not only to demonstrate the significance of the agreement reached on the Christological issue, but to plan and prepare as required for the ecclesiastical body.
3.    The ecclesiological importance of recognising and including the doctrinal definitions of the IV, V, VI and VII Ecumenical Synods must be promoted more fully through special studies on their Cyrillian basis, and the Anathemas must be lifted in order to restore ecclesiastical communion; these measures presuppose thorough and integrated research of the theological heritage of both theological traditions and the clarification of the Christological terminology.
4.    The planning of the future activities presupposes the immediate assembly, organization, and publication in an attractive special volume of all the presentations and studies, which refer to the disputed theological issues of the Agreed Theological Statements, or to the refutation of the criticism against them, because in this way appropriate arguments will support not only the work that has already been accomplished, but also the future prospects of the work of the Joint Theological Commission and the two Sub-Committees.

Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
Chambésy, Geneva, 13 March 2005.