Russian Church welcomes Dialogue

The ongoing dialogue between the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Churches was welcomed with "the spirit of fraternity, mutual understanding and common aspiration" by the 143-member Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church during its recent meeting in Moscow.

The bishops called upon Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Christians "to be faithful to the Apostolic and Patristic Tradition expressed by the Joint Commission of the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches in 'The Second Agreed Statement and Recommendations to the Churches'" issued after the landmark dialogue which took place in Chambesy, Switzerland in 1990. "The Statement should not be regarded as a final document sufficient for the restoration of full communion between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches as it contains ambiguities in some Christological formulations," the hierarchs concurred. "To express hope in this regard, the Christological formulations should be clarified in the course of studying the questions pertaining to the restoration of church communion between the two families of Churches of the Orthodox tradition."

The hierarchs noted that "the Russian Orthodox Church has special historical and ecclesiastical reasons and grounds to promote the success of the dialogue with the Oriental Orthodox Churches" and cited examples of how the Russian Church "has protected and defended the Orthodox East" throughout its history. It was further decided that the Holy Synod, and under its guidance the Department for External Church Relations, the Education Committee, the Department for Religious Education and Catechisation, the Department for Mission, and the Publications Board would develop a round of scholarly conferences, symposiums, and historical and theological publications to familiarise clergy and laity alike with the latest developments in the theological dialogue with the Oriental Orthodox.

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