Theological Dialogue of the Catholic Church
and the Oriental Orthodox Churches

Friends:

I always tell people that there is a lot going on in the ecumenical world–but most of it we don’t hear about.

Take for example, the recent statement on the the “Nature, Constitution and Mission of the Church” agreed to by the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue of the Catholic and Oriental Orthodox churches. I found it a very interesting statement [see Origins, February 12, 2009, pages 551-560 for the official text].

The representatives note that the document ” displays a large base of agreement in fundamental matters of ecclesiology“[559]. As always, there will always be areas for continuing work.

Even if we come into full communion I think that there will still be areas to work on.
The work of theologians will continue–And there will always be different schools of thought that disagree on some points–and think they are absolutely right!

The key question–how much agreement is enough for us to come together.
While this particular statement indicates areas for further dialogue, it did bring to my mind the ‘bigger question’

Peace,
John