An agreed statement titled “The Plight of the Churches in the Middle East” expresses the “very grave concern” Catholics and Orthodox share over the situation, said Fr. Ronald Roberson, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ associate director of ecumenical and interreligious affairs.
The statement has been forwarded to the U.S. and Canadian conferences of bishops for final approval and will be published jointly by the two bodies. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops expected the statement to be issued Nov. 1.
The theologians, pastors and bishops on the consultation see the churches in the Middle East facing an existential threat, Roberson told The Catholic Register.
“Especially for the Orthodox, but for Catholics too, the situation of Christians in the Middle East is devastating if not catastrophic,” he said.
The statement represents one more opportunity to express concern on a high priority issue for Canada’s bishops, said Roberson’s counterpart at the CCCB, Kyle Ferguson. The Canadian bishops have already issued their own statement this year specifically on Syria and signed onto a May 17 letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper from the Canadian Council of Churches urging Canada to do more to protect Middle East Christians.
In almost four days of talks the 26 members of the North American consultation staged their first-ever meeting with theology students, reviewed work already completed and made plans to complete studies into celibacy and the married clergy and on the role of the laity in the Church. The meetings were held at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre in Mississauga, Ont.
The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation explores theological issues that are later considered by the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church which directly involves the Vatican and 14 independent Orthodox churches.
St. Augustine’s Seminary theology student Matthew McCarthy called the student encounter with the North American consultation eye-opening. Two Orthodox and two Catholic theology students spoke of their mutual, newfound appreciation for the closeness of Orthodox and Catholic theology and a hope that after ordination they will each be involved in ecumenical work.
“Maybe not on the level of theology, but on the level of friendship,” said McCarthy. “We’re Christians in love with Christ. Let’s celebrate that.”
The student ecumenical encounter was jointly hosted by Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Archbishop Sotirios Athanassoulas and Toronto’s Cardinal Thomas Collins at the Greek Orthodox offices. Sotirios spoke of growing up under communism, never imagining that the communist world would collapse. But nobody should think the East-West divide in the Church will simply disappear because we want it to, he said.
“Instead of praying for unity, I think we should pray for humility,” said Sotirios.
Unity is more likely among the humble than among those proud of their own grasp of theology, he said.
“It is so very important that we work together and pray together,” said Collins.
“We receive communion from God. It’s a gift of the Holy Trinity,” said Msgr. Paul McPartland of the Catholic University of America.
The next document expected from the consultation will tackle questions of celibacy and married priests. Several members of the consultation said they expected a joint statement on the issue as soon as next year, though there is no timetable.