Coptic Church & Ecumenical Movement - Saint Mina Coptic ...

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invisible, heavenly and earthly; and because it brings under the sway of true religion all classes of men, rulers and subjects, learned and ignorant; and because it universally treats and cures every type of sin, committed by means of soul and body, and possesses in itself every kind of virtue which can be named, in deeds and words, and spiritual gifts of every kind.” Apostolic is the fourth and last of the notes of the Church. The term Apostolic affirms that the Church is descended from the Apostles by a due succession. The fact of the succession of the ministry from the apostles, and of the apostles from Christ, was strongly emphasised by St. Clement of Rome before the end of the first century (Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 44). The Episcopate is thus held to create a historical link between the Church of the Apostolic times and that of today and is both the means and assurance of the continuity of office and of transmission of grace, and on these grounds the episcopate descended from the Apostles is the guarantee of the Apostolicity of the Church. THE THREE ECUMENICAL COUNCILS Since the dawn of Christianity, the Coptic Orthodox Church has played a leading role in the ecumenical movement. At the Council of Nicea in 325 AD the Alexandrian Patriarch, Alexandrus, assisted by his deacon Athanasius, vigorously opposed Arius’ false teachings and St. Athanasius formulated the Nicene Creed. In 381 AD, at the Council of Constantinople, the Pope of Alexandria, Timothous, responded to critical questions of dogma, which were enshrined as canon law. At the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, Pope Cyril of Alexandria chaired the sessions of the 3 rd Ecumenical Council that excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestros. The school of Alexandria stood as a lighthouse for Christianity in the first five centuries, in the area of biblical exegesis and the theological insight and scriptural scholarship. THE CHALCEDONIAN SCHISM Following the schism at Chalcedon in 451, the Coptic Orthodox Church was isolated, persecuted and incorrectly labelled as Monophysite. Whereas they have always believed in God Incarnate, with His divinity and humanity fully present and united without mixture, confusion or change. As concerning the “Two natures of Christ”, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria unwaveringly upheld the formula of Saint Cyril the Great whose authority had been unanimously accepted by all members of the universal church. They kept it up without the slightest addition or alteration. This formula is: “One nature of God the Logos Incarnate”, which reveals the “Hypostatic union” of both natures, the divine and the human in one without mingling, nor confusion, nor alteration”. This by no means denies the existence of the human nature in Christ as Eutychianism did, which the Coptic Church totally rejected since the very beginning. According to the Coptic concept, God the Son “took to Himself a real and perfect manhood”, “He bore our sins in His body and He truly died for our sake”. “Godhead and manhood are united in such a way that properties of divinity and humanity are not lost, nor confused or mixed. We (the adherers of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria) do not interpret the Cyrillian 2
phrase: “One nature of God the Word incarnate” to mean absorption of the manhood or the human properties, as the Euthychian heresy declares”. Today it is generally admitted that this wrong designation of the Coptic Creed as “Monophysite” was mainly the consequence of misinterpreted and misunderstood terminology. This has repeatedly been attested on several occasions as well as through the common declarations between the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Anglican Church (1990), the Chalcedonian Orthodox Church (1989), the Roman Catholic Church (1988) and the Protestant Church in Germany. WHO ARE THE ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES? Ethiopians 52% Oriental Orthodox Churches Syr.Jacob. 5% 1. The Armenian Apostolic Church Armenian 10% Coptic 24% Mal.Syrian 9% 3 Armenian Coptic Mal.Syrian Ethiopians Syr.Jacob. Tradition says that the Apostles (Thaddeus and Bartholomew) brought Christianity to ancient Armenia, which is why this church is called the “Armenian Apostolic Church”. Subsequently, through the efforts of Gregory the Illuminator in 301, it was espoused as the religion of the state, making Armenia the oldest Christian kingdom. Its liturgies and customs are therefore very ancient and respected. At the time of the Russian Revolution (1917), the use of ‘apostolic’, not ‘orthodox’, in the title of this church proved useful as it prevented the Russian authorities from forcing it to join the Russian Orthodox Church as they did with other churches such as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as they did with other churches such as the Ukrainian Orthodox. Presently Armenia is only one-tenth its original size. It is bound by Georgia to the north, which is Christian, but Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey are all Muslim countries. The original Armenia comprised the present Armenian (previously ‘Soviet Socialist’) Republic, adjacent parts of the previous ‘Soviet’ Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh, Nakhichevan), the north-eastern provinces of Turkey, and the western parts of Irian Azerbaijan.
Page 1 and 2: THE COPTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH AND THE
Page 3: DEDICATION This book is dedicated t
Page 9 and 10: VI SYNDESMOS Statement; May 1991...
Page 11 and 12: FOREWORD vi By H.H. Pope Shenouda I
Page 13: THE ONE CHURCH CHAPTER 1 UNITY AND
Page 17 and 18: centuries they had managed to maint
Page 19 and 20: Later doctrinal and papal developme
Page 21 and 22: Byzantine Tradition There are nine
Page 23 and 24: maintain a degree of flexibility in
Page 25 and 26: CHAPTER 2 THE ECUMENICAL VISION Der
Page 27 and 28: 5. Youth Ecumenical Committee Under
Page 29 and 30: Since the beginning the Church used
Page 31 and 32: etween the two traditions of Orthod
Page 33 and 34: THE UNOFFICIAL CONSULTATIONS Throug
Page 35 and 36: Participants Eastern Orthodox Orien
Page 37 and 38: does not appear therefore to be inc
Page 39 and 40: THE THIRD UNOFFICIAL CONSULTATION G
Page 41 and 42: the nature of the Church be safe gu
Page 43 and 44: (h) To explore the possibilities of
Page 46 and 47: THE FOURTH UNOFFICIAL CONSULTATION
Page 48 and 49: Participants Eastern Orthodox Orien
Page 50 and 51: more clarity of thought and more ea
Page 52 and 53: THE OFFICIAL CONSULTATIONS After tw
Page 54 and 55: MEETING OF THE JOINT SUB-COMMITTEE
Page 56 and 57: JOINT COMMISSION OF THE THEOLOGICAL
Page 58 and 59: (atreptos), without separation (ach
Page 60 and 61: REPORT OF THE JOINT SUB-COMMITTEE A
Page 62 and 63: 1 - In the area of the relation bet
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JOINT-COMMISSION OF THE THEOLOGICAL
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4. Both families agree that the nat
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Participants Eastern Orthodox Orien
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RECOMMENDATIONS ON PASTORAL ISSUES
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e) Abortion. 12.A joint consultatio
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Joint Commission Of The Theological
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iii) A Liturgical Sub-Committee sho
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POPE SHENOUDA III’S ADDRESS TO PO
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HOMILY OF POPE PAUL VI May 6th, 197
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From this new knowledge of God foll
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conscious of its duty of witnessing
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RESPONSE OF POPE PAUL VI TO POPE SH
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POPE PAUL VI’S ADDRESS BEFORE THE
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We shall always keep in our memory
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COMMON DECLARATION SIGNED BY POPE P
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THE INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION
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esurrection and ascension. It is fr
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pastoral activities and exert a mor
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Participants in the meeting were: C
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some other bishop. The universal Ch
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THIRD MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL
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1. The authorities of the Catholic
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His Divinity. This explains the mos
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Excellency, Msgr. Youhanna Kabes au
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A) The Holy See of Rome a) Consider
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of the theological, ecclesiastical
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DIRECTIONS TO THE WORK OF THE I.J.C
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ADDRESS OF POPE JOHN PAUL II TO A C
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PRINCIPLES FOR GUIDING THE SEARCH F
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Frequent contacts at all levels of
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THE RESUMPTION OF THE DIALOGUE When
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We must bear witness to this common
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Members Of The Commission Coptic Or
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SIXTH MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL
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MEETING OF THE POPE OF ALEXANDRIA A
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PRO ORIENTE ORIENTAL ORTHODOX - CAT
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The Second Consultation At the seco
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and the Ecumenical Councils, as the
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church in truth and love, in Euchar
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The Fourth Consultation The fourth
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statements of the See of Rome canno
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The conversations were held in a co
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a). Look more closely into the agre
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she does not on her own respect the
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4. This communion is participation
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On each place where the Eucharist i
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church should not be undertaken wit
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exchanged by His Eminence and the c
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7. Confirmation and reception of ec
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ANGLICAN - COPTIC JOINT DECLARATION
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THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE The ten year
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gave birth to the Logos, helped to
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the patriarch of Constantinople. Wo
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All Scripture is given by inspirati
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• Regional Forums The Forum welco
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CHAPTER 6 COPTIC ORTHODOX AND WORLD
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4. Dr. Silke-Petra Bergjan presente
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Possible Topics for Future Discussi
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ORIENTAL ORTHODOX - REFORMED DIALOG
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• How do our historical contexts
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We submit this statement to the aut
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ORIENTAL ORTHODOX - REFORMED DIALOG
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• In their understanding, Scriptu
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• Theologia reformata et semper r
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Participants in the Third Session O
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Participants in the Fourth Session
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CHAPTER 8 COPTIC ORTHODOX AND PRESB
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CHAPTER 9 CONSTRUCTING BRIDGES OF L
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PRELIMINARY MEETING OF ORIENTAL ORT
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(ie. In the Apostolic Faith) in the
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THE SECOND MEETING OF THE HEADS OF
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Fourth: The Middle East Council of
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THE THIRD MEETING OF THE HEADS OF T
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Oriental Orthodox family will join
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THE FOURTH MEETING OF THE HEADS OF
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that this document become a matter
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these will widen the circle of viol
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and demand of our faith and by the
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CHAPTER 10 ECUMENICAL ORGANISATIONS
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WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES Founded i
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In 1961 the assembly was held in Ne
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i The Trinitarian God, ii Salvation
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Special Commission on Orthodox Part
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ALL AFRICA CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES A
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THE ALEXANDRIAN CONFESSION (1976) T
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THE MECC LOGO The logo of the Middl
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Conducted every 5 years, the assemb
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our skill in reading the writing th
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Patriarch of Jerusalem for the Gree
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SYNDESMOS It is the World Fellowshi
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APPENDIX I CHRISTOLOGICAL AGREEMENT
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APPENDIX II ADDRESS BY H.H. POPE SH
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St. John the divine, a pillar of th
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CHURCH UNITY IS AN HISTORICAL INHER
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“We all believe that Our Lord, Go
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An excursion was organised to visit
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You will understand, therefore, tha
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tradition of our Church, is changed
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feeling in themselves the pain of d
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The Coptic Orthodox have been assur
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APPENDIX IX LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS
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APPENDIX X TELEGRAM FROM H.H POPE J
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eport that only a few priests have
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Bibliography Arruda, M. (ed.), Ecum
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