On September 16 and 17, the residence of the Coptic Patriarch within the monastery “St. Bishoy’, Wadi el-Natrun (i.e. the Nitrian Valley), hosted a gathering of representatives of the Orthodox Church buildings of the world with the pre-Chalcedonian or historical Jap Orthodox Church buildings. This comes after a spot of about thirty-four years for the reason that final assembly in 1990, beneath the late Coptic Patriarch Shenouda the Third. The aim of the present assembly was to arrange the renewal of the dialogue between the 2 households of church buildings. Through the assembly, the contributors additionally mentioned quite a few non secular and social points within the subject of church care and ministry beneath the motto “Christ’s love compels us” (2 Cor. 5:14).
Every church was represented by two members who have been from Constantinople, Greece, Bulgaria, Russia, Romania, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon, Armenia, Poland, Egypt, Eritrea and Albania.
The assembly was opened with a welcome from Coptic Patriarch Theodore II and a message from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, which was learn by his consultant, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon.
The contributors agreed to proceed conferences and mutual visits within the subsequent interval with the intention to assist the ministry of the Orthodox Church buildings and to deal with the social challenges affecting the Christian household in all its kinds. The co-chairs will go to the church buildings within the numerous nations and can inform them of the outcomes of the theological dialogue presently.
The resumption of the Orthodox-pre-Chalcedonian theological dialogue comes after the interruption of the dialogue between the Copts and the Roman Catholics, which was introduced by the Coptic Church with its determination of March 2024. As a motive, the Copts highlighted the admission of a type of blessing of same-sex {couples} by the Roman Catholic Church.
This theme additionally discovered a spot within the joint communique after the tip of the assembly, through which the representatives of the Orthodox Church and the Pre-Chalcedonian Church buildings said: “Our church households understand the indissoluble and loving union between a person and a girl in holy marriage as a “nice thriller” (Eph. . 5:32), reflecting the connection between Christ and the Church, in distinction to some fashionable approaches to marriage. From this union arises the household, which is seen as the one foundation for the start and upbringing of youngsters in line with the divine plan. That’s the reason our church buildings take into account the household as a “small church” and supply it with acceptable pastoral care and assist.
Our church buildings categorically reject the justification of same-sex relations throughout the framework of so-called “absolute human freedom” that causes hurt to humanity. Our church buildings, by affirming their full religion in human rights and freedom, additionally affirm that the liberty of the created isn’t absolute to the extent of transgressing and violating the Creator’s commandments.
The communique additionally famous the frequent celebration of Passover subsequent 12 months: “As 2025 marks the seventeen hundredth anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, and Christians around the globe will have fun Passover on the identical date, the representatives of each households expressed their want that each one Christians around the globe have fun Easter following the canonical custom of Nicaea and the Orthodox Paschalia”.