SW News: After a gap of seven years, Catholic and Orthodox theologians have issued a joint statement in which they have stressed the need for dialogue of charity to reach full communion as was the case before the Great Schism. The joint statement was issued on June 7 and it was entitled “Synodality and Primacy in the Second Millennium and Today”.

The Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue of both Churches held a meeting from June 1 to 7 in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Annunciation in Egypt’s Alexandria. The commission was formed by the Vatican and 14 autocephalous Orthodox Churches. Over the past 40 years, they have come out with a number of significant documents.

Both Churches should take genuine efforts to purge their histories of mutual intolerance and mistrust, said the delegates and theologians during the joint meeting in Egypt. They said it is essential to “embrace an authentic understanding of synodality and primacy in light of the theological principles, canonical provisions and liturgical practices of the undivided Church of the first millennium”.

One of the main obstacles to the progress of dialogue toward full communion is how the question of primacy can be addressed. It is with regard to how the Pope should use his primacy as the Successor of St Peter, the Prince of the Apostles. The document sheds some details about the Second Millennium when the Bishop of Rome had universal jurisdiction over the other Churches, including those of the East. However, this is contested by the autocephalous Orthodox Churches.

The theological disagreement over primacy widened with the First Vatican Council which stressed the universal jurisdiction of the pope and papal infallibility when the Holy Father teaches matters regarding faith and morals in unison with all bishops.

The Orthodox Churches reject such an ecclesiology as a serious departure from the canonical tradition of the Fathers of the Church and the ecumenical councils. They argue it eclipses the catholicity of individual Churches. Now the theologians who met in Alexandria want a closer look at the Second Vatican Council and the Great Council of the Orthodox Church held in Crete in 2016. It was Vatican II that looked at full communion from the point of view of the Eucharist.

As many as 18 members represented the Catholics while 10 Orthodox Churches had their delegates present during the discussions. Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Job of Pisidia of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul are the two co-presidents in charge of the Commission.