Developed by the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation during a three-day meeting at Georgetown University in Washington, two “unprecedented” statements released on Oct. 7 offer a vision of what the unity of the two churches might look like. Steps Toward a Reunited Church offers a vision of the possible shape of a reunited church resulting from the re-establishment of full communion. The second statement, Celebrating Easter/Pascha Together, focuses on the importance of a unified celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The statements identify areas where the churches diverge in leadership and other practices, such as the role of the pope, that must be reconciled before the nearly 1,000-year separation between the churches can end. Ronald Roberson, a Paulist priest who is the associate director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, said the divided churches now “dimly perceive” what a united church would look like. “Obviously for that to happen,” he said, “Catholics would have to adjust and Orthodox would have to adjust.”
A Vision of Unity
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
The people of God see the bishop of Rome as a teacher, but they also unquestionably see him as a father.
Since the death of Pope Francis, lists of his possible successors have proliferated on social media and in newspapers. Should you trust them?
A Homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, by Terrance Klein
In a pre-conclave meeting, an Italian cardinal, and backer of Cardinal Parolin as next pope, attacked Pope Francis for opening positions of responsibility in the church to men and women not in holy orders.