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

the members of the ancient and younger churches, the coming together of their
spiritual leaders was accompanied by high expectancy and sense of moment. It had,
for them, something of the symbolic significance of a true ecumenical conclave, a
’Council of Nicosia’. Whatever else may be said about it, it represented a genuine
moment of ecumenical cordiality, and was inspired by a spirit of common purpose.
At the conclusion of their meeting, the leaders of the Middle East’s Churches issued
an open pastoral letter. We publish the document:
Sent out by the leaders of Middle East Churches at their meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus
January 24 th 1998.
Beloved brothers and children in the Lord, we praise God that He has made it possible
for us to meet for the second time since 1985 as heads of the four church families –
Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical. We meet during the
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, within the framework of the Middle East Council
of Churches, and as the guests of His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos in Nicosia,
capital of Cyprus.
As we meet, what unites us is our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God and Saviour,
according to Holy Scripture and as we have confessed it in the Apostles’ Creed and
the Niceo-Constantinople Creed. And we have met to renew our efforts to fulfil our
common calling to give glory to our One God, Father, Son on the threshold of the
year 2000, a year in which, with all the world’s Christians, we now prepare to
celebrate the Great Jubilee, the jubilee of two thousand years since the coming of our
Saviour and Redeemer, Christ the Lord. Thus we direct our gaze to the Holy Land to
renew our solidarity with its people, and to affirm the unique character and holiness of
the city of Jerusalem. We call the attention of all the churches and the whole
international community to the dangers that loom over it and threaten world peace.
None of us lacks the awareness that Christian existence in this part of God’s world
goes back to the days when Christ the Lord was born, lived, died, rose again and
founded His Church upon this gracious land. It is from here that the light of the
gospel shone forth upon the whole world, East and West.
In ancient times churches were founded in this land, each with its history, heritage and
liturgical traditions. These are churches with their martyrs, saints and scholars,
individuals who have greatly enriched Christian culture and all humanity with their
books and writings, filling them from the springs of the Holy Gospel. These bequests
continue to be valuable resources for every person who wants to explore the
evangelical values within which they lived and for whose glory they gave their lives.
None of us can forget Jerusalem whence the Church first set forth after the Holy Spirit
had come to dwell in it. We cannot forget Antioch where the believers were first
called Christian. We cannot forget Alexandria, the fruit of St. Mark’s preaching. We
cannot forget Cyprus nor the cities of Asia Minor where St. Paul sojourned and to
whom he addressed most of his letters, among the most precious things in
Christianity’s treasury. In his permissive will, God gave some of these into other
hands. He is the sovereign of history, the Lord of all destinies. It is for us to develop
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