Ecumenical Dialogue

A day of charitable dialogue

On Monday 4 October, the meeting moved into its next phase. Over 50 representatives of various Churches from the East and West joined the meeting for a day of dialogue. Among those present were: Most Rev Kevin McDonald, Catholic Archbishop of Southwark; His Eminence Yohanna Ibrahim, Syrian Oriental Orthodox Metropolitan Archbishop of Aleppo; Archimandrite Isaias Simonopetritis, representing the Greek Orthodox Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain; and Fr Stephen Platt of the Russian Orthodox Church. Also present were members of the Eastern Catholic and Oriental Catholic Churches, the Romanian Catholic Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Communion and representatives from various local churches.

The Dialogue Day began with Archbishop Kevin McDonald sharing his reflections on Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. In this talk he recalled his experiences while working in the Secretariat for Christian Unity in Rome and explained the process and protocols involved in ecumenical dialogue and the proclamation of agreed statements. He spoke about the need in ecumenism for a gradualist process in dialogue, which involves an appraisal of historical disagreement, leading to a deepening of dialogue towards further agreement. This is a continuous process, and is part of the wider picture of how churches relate to each other.

His Eminence Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim then presented a report on the progress of the Roman Catholic-Syrian Oriental dialogue, and informed those present of the Oriental Orthodox Church's protocols concerning the reception and acceptance of ecumenical dialogue. His Eminence also commented that the Holy Father's invitation for all to discuss the role of the Papacy in the context of the restoration of unity was of the highest significance and should not be ignored.

The afternoon period began with a talk from Dr Sebastian Brock, of the Oriental Institute, Oxford, and consultant to Pro Oriente, entitled, ‘Principal events and theological contours of the dialogue between the Syriac and Catholic Churches.’ Dr Brock again drew our attention to the highly significant agreement reached between the Chaldean Church, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Holy See allowing, when necessity requires, mutual admission to the Eucharist.

This was followed by a paper from the Rt. Rev Dom Hugh Gilbert, Abbot of Pluscarden, entitled, 'The Contribution of Monasticism to the East-West Dialogue.' Abbot Hugh presented us with four points to consider:

1. Monasteries are autonomous and therefore ideally constructed for ecumenical dialogue; they are free to build ‘unusual bridges’, free to make friends out of 'enemies', free to discover and develop a ‘common passion’.

2. Monastics from East and West share a common literary and spiritual heritage; monastics sing together.

3. Monastics of all traditions share a living vocation for they are immersed without distraction in a Mystery.

4. They have a responsibility to show the world the face of the Church, the face of Christ.

After a short break for afternoon tea, an opportunity was provided for participants to address questions to a panel composed of the main speakers, the principal representatives of the various Churches, and Fr. Andrew Paley, Assistant General Secretary for ecumenism at the Catholic Bishops' Conference. Dr Anthony O’Mahony chaired the discussion and a lively and informed debate ensued. Archbishop Yohanna mentioned the suggestion currently being mooted in Rome concerning the possibility of communion, within the framework of separate jurisdictions. Mr. Conor McDonagh, a Cambridge student and member of Youth 2000, asked the panel what was the role of Mary, the ‘Proto-Disciple’, in the restoration of unity. This evoked the unanimous positive and heartfelt response that Mary is certainly our mother and a means of unity.

Somewhat appropriately, the Dialogue Day then closed with the celebration of Latin monastic Vespers in St Mary's Anglican parish church.

Visit to the Orthodox Monastery of St John the Baptist

On the final day of the meeting, we travelled by coach to the Orthodox monastery of St John the Baptist at Tolleshunt Knights in Essex. This visit may perhaps best be described by Sr Mary Stephen of Minster who, writes, ‘The monastery has to be seen to be believed. It is indescribable. One could pick out the people who had come for the first time by their expressions as they stumbled out of the sunshine into the amazing wealth of icons in the refectory, the darkened chapels and the big church. The resident monks and nuns must get used to being looked at by those eyes: they must be immunised to a certain extent against so much beauty. You can’t live all the time at that intensity .They were like most Monastics, cheerful, down to earth, intelligently interested and informed. They also offered us the most heavenly coffee and home made cakes. The liturgical prayer and the deep silence told the inside story of their lives -of integration. There was no immunisation in that holy place. Here was the monastic space where one was vulnerable, where one would be opened, "wounded by love" as Marcarius has it; a space was here for the pain of desire and here, the desire for unity.’

During the afternoon Dr Sebastian Brock spoke to us about the ecumenical role of monastic literature with special reference to Isaac of Nineveh. At the end of this talk, he said, ‘we are talking here of the “church of the heart”, the church that reaches out to all Christians and to all faiths.’ With these words ringing in our ears we then joined the resident Orthodox community for Vespers and for the praying of the ‘Jesus Prayer’, the prayer of the heart.

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