After a
ten-year postponement, the Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission
held its second meeting 3-7 October 2013 in England.
The
Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission met to discuss matters of
Christology and the Holy Spirit, and to pray for Egypt, Syria and the wider
Middle East during a special service on 5 October 2013. The meeting comes
shortly after the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and
Right Honourable Justin Welby to His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, 118th Pope of
Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa on the holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark
in Egypt in June of this year.
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| ACO/ Neil Vigers |
His Grace
Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of The Coptic Orthodox Church in the United
Kingdom, and acting Co-Secretary of the commission this year said:
“Having
reconvened after a long postponement, we met with the aim of continuing our
good relations and establishing greater unity between our Churches, while still
tackling difficult and challenging issues. This has been an opportunity to
re-establish a valuable platform for common understanding, leading to a greater
witness of solidarity, not only for members of our own Churches but for the
wider Christian Church and the whole world, especially our brethren in Egypt,
Syria and throughout the Middle East for whom we prayed.”
Bishop Geoffrey Rowell, Co-Chair of the Dialogue
said:
“We rejoice that we have met together
once more, here in England, and within this Diocese of Guildford. We have
gathered to reflect on our common faith in Christ.”
Archbishop
Aphrem Karim of the Syriac Orthodox Church said:
“What is happening in Syria and the Middle East is the cost we
have to pay for our faith. But the whole people of the Middle East, Christians
and Muslims are suffering...”
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| ACO/ Neil Vigers |
The
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby,
who met with members of the consultation on Sunday 6 October 2013, said:
"I
am delighted that Anglican and Orthodox Christians will worship together and
remember in prayer the very difficult, indeed life-threatening circumstances in
which some of the Churches are living.”
The third
meeting of the Commission is planned to take place in Cairo, Egypt, in October
2014, hosted by the Coptic Orthodox Church, addressing the themes of
ecclesiology, primacy and collegiality, and pastoral co-operation.
*Ends*
The Communiqué below.
Communiqué
The
Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission has held its second meeting
3-7 October 2013 at St Columba's House, Woking, England. Our Churches rejoice
at the resumption of this important dialogue after ten years.
We greatly appreciate the hospitality offered by the Anglican Communion, the
Church of England, and the Diocese of Guildford.
During the course of its meeting the Commission shared in daily prayer from the
various traditions represented, and considered and discussed the following
papers:
The Procession of the Holy Spirit (Coptic Orthodox presentation)
The Filioque in the Anglican Tradition
The Filioque and Anglican Action
The Filioque and the Armenian Orthodox Tradition
The Draft Agreed Statement on Christology (2002) and its reception
The context in which we have met has been one of continuing concern for the
countries in the Middle East in particular, as well as Kenya, Pakistan and
Nigeria. Participants felt that Rev 1.9 spoke powerfully to us. ‘I, John, your
brother, who share with you in Jesus, persecution and the kingdom and the
patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus.’
On Saturday 5 October we worshipped in the Coptic Orthodox Church of St
Augustine, Gomshall, Surrey. Through this act of worship the members of the
Commission, together with local church members, prayed and expressed solidarity
with the peoples at the heart of suffering.
At the service, Bishop Angaelos said, 'We gather to remember our brethren in
Egypt, Syria, and throughout the Middle East, where many continue to suffer
persecution for their Faith. Some suffer even to the extent of losing their
lives, yet their faithful witness in the Middle East is a blessing to the whole
Church, and to the whole world.’
Bishop Geoffrey Rowell added, ‘We have reflected on our common faith in Christ,
and how we speak of Him, and live in Him, by the life-giving work of God's Holy
Spirit. We have done that in the deep awareness of the suffering of fellow Christians
in Syria, in Egypt, and in many other places. The God whom we worship and adore
is the One who comes down to the lowest part of our need.’
On Sunday 6 October members of the Commission were welcomed to the Eucharist at
The Chapel Royal, Hampton Court, for its Feast of Dedication, and were joined
by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby. In greeting them
Archbishop Justin said, ‘We meet with an urgency and importance to meeting,
which is together to seek God’s powerful hand to deliver the people of Christ,
who seek only to serve him and serve their people.’ We express our thanks for
his presence with us and his encouragement for the work of this dialogue. We
are also deeply grateful to his predecessor Dr Rowan Williams for his significant
work in reviving this dialogue.
The Commission shares the joy of the Coptic Orthodox Church at the enthronement
of its new Pope and Patriarch, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, and of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church at the enthronement of its new Patriarch,
His Holiness Abune Matthias I.
The third meeting of the Commission is planned to take place in Cairo, Egypt,
in October 2014, hosted by the Coptic Orthodox Church, addressing the themes of
ecclesiology, primacy and collegiality, and pastoral co-operation.
At the conclusion of the dialogue the Commission thanked God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, for the unity that they experienced and shared.
Members
of the Commission
Anglican
The Rt Revd Dr
Geoffrey Rowell
(Co-Chair)
The Church of England
The Most Revd Dr
Michael
Jackson
The Church of Ireland
The Revd Canon
Harold
Nahabedian
The Anglican Church of Canada
The Rt Revd Duleep
de
Chickera
The Church of Ceylon
The Revd Canon Dr
William
Taylor
The Church of England
The Very Revd Dr Samy
Shehata
The Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East
The Rt Revd
Jonathan Goodall
The Church of England
The Rt Revd Clive
Handford
The Church of England (Unable to attend the meeting)
The
Revd Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan (Co-Secretary) Anglican
Communion Office
Mr Neil Vigers
(Administrator)
Anglican Communion Office
Oriental Orthodox
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
His Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy
(Co-Chair)
Egypt (Unable to attend the meeting)
His Grace Bishop Angaelos (Acting Co-Secretary)
England
Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church - Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin, Armenia
His Eminence
Archbishop Hovnan
Derderian
USA
The Very Revd Archimandrite Shahe
Ananyan
Armenia
Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church - Holy See of
Cilicia, Antelias - Lebanon
His Eminence
Archbishop Nareg Alemezian (Acting Co-Chair) Lebanon
His Grace Bishop Shahe
Panossian
Kuwait
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church
His Grace
Archbishop Abba
Gabriel
Ethiopia
His Grace Archbishop Abba
Yacob
South Africa
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
The Revd Fr Dr KM
George
India (Unable to attend the meeting)
Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch
His Eminence
Archbishop Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim USA
His Eminence
Archbishop Mor Gregorios Joseph India (Unable to
attend the meeting)
