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more clarity of thought and more earnestness to bring down the barriers that stand against unity. We are in a position to refer the whole issue to sub-committees in our churches to study it in the light of our Orthodox doctrine. We may raise some points that are pertinent to this prospective unity: 1. Aren’t we all repeating the same Creed in every service? 2. Don’t we confess the same Triune God, the same Jesus Christ, the same Holy Spirit, the same efficacy of the seven Mysteries of the Church? 3. Don’t we all believe in the resurrection of the dead, the Second Coming, Judgement, and the eternal life to come? 4. Don’t we all believe in the Divinity of the Only-Begotten Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Logos of God the Father and His Wisdom, who in the fullness of time was incarnated and became Man for our salvation, and Who is One in Essence with the Father without separation or division or partition or change? 5. Don’t we all believe in the redemptive act that the Son of God has undertaken after His Incarnation of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary in a body similar to ours with a rational soul, and so sharing our humanity without sin or corruption. 6. Don’t we believe that our Lord and God and Saviour and King of us all, Jesus Christ, is the Only-Begotten Son of God with respect to His Divinity, and the Son of Man regarding His Humanity, and that His Divinity and His Humanity are perfectly united without confusion or admixture or alteration or separation or division, and that He who is the unseen image of God, was seen in the flesh, and who has been since time immemorial and will be without end, the Lord who accepted the image of the servant, and who combined all the divine and human attributes in a union without separation that cannot be explained? 7. Don’t we all believe that the Holy Spirit grants us the godly graces through the Sacraments of the Church such as Baptism, Myron, Eucharist, Repentance, Unction, Marriage and Priesthood? 8. Don’t we all believe in the beatitude of the Holy Virgin Mary, the “Mother of Light”, her permanent virginity, her intercession and her due reverence, and that she is higher than the angels and the archangels, for she is the Queen and Mother of the King, who deserves to be called Theotokos? 9. Don’t we all believe in the three sources of Orthodox education: the Old and New Testaments with their seventy-six chapters, the tradition and councils, and their legislative authority? 10. These are our doctrines and the tenets of our Orthodox faith, which we share with others. There are no disagreements whether in parts or wholes as regards what is mentioned above. 11. We have joint rites in connection with our private and communal prayers, our celebration of the Eucharist, which is the essence of our church prayers. Also, we share the mystery of our communion with the Lord and His Church, the rites of fasting and feast celebrations, the efficacy of prayer, the veneration of icons and the relics of saints, the intercessions of angels and God’s chosen vessels, whether they are still alive or have already reposed in the Lord. 36
All of these form a host of witnesses regarding the victorious Church, which will hoist its banner on the day of Judgement. Together with them, we wait for the Second Coming of the Lord and the manifestation of His Glory to judge the living and the quick. We have studied all these issues in depth and we are sure that it is possible to come closer to each other. What is only missing from the practical side is the official declaration of the heads of our churches that unity is a reality based on logic and openness of mind. Henceforward, the joint work of effective co-operation is bound to start in all spiritual, ritual and pastoral areas. As regards faith and doctrine, this prospective declaration would be sufficient for sharing the mystery of the one godly altar, which is our communion in the one Body. This would also apply to the Sacraments of Baptism, Myron, Marriage, Priesthood and all the other Mysteries and Rites. The declaration of the unity of the church should be followed by a proclamation that Christians are one and are in common in the oneness of the redemptive mystery. In accordance with this official declaration, all the obstacles that still stand against unity must be overcome. All abusive and offensive terms must be put aside so that effective co-operation in the spiritual and pastoral domains would take place. In this sense, we would be practically applying what St. Paul the Apostle has said, “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all…For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body…and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many…Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-27). 37
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 and 14: THE ONE CHURCH CHAPTER 1 UNITY AND
Page 15 and 16: phrase: “One nature of God the Wo
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 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
Page 64 and 65: JOINT-COMMISSION OF THE THEOLOGICAL
Page 66 and 67: 4. Both families agree that the nat
Page 70 and 71: RECOMMENDATIONS ON PASTORAL ISSUES
Page 72 and 73: e) Abortion. 12.A joint consultatio
Page 74 and 75: Joint Commission Of The Theological
Page 76 and 77: iii) A Liturgical Sub-Committee sho
Page 78 and 79: POPE SHENOUDA III’S ADDRESS TO PO
Page 80 and 81: HOMILY OF POPE PAUL VI May 6th, 197
Page 82 and 83: From this new knowledge of God foll
Page 84 and 85: conscious of its duty of witnessing
Page 86 and 87: RESPONSE OF POPE PAUL VI TO POPE SH
Page 88 and 89: POPE PAUL VI’S ADDRESS BEFORE THE
Page 90 and 91: We shall always keep in our memory
Page 92 and 93: COMMON DECLARATION SIGNED BY POPE P
Page 94 and 95: THE INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION
Page 96 and 97: esurrection and ascension. It is fr
Page 98 and 99: 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
Page 208 and 209:
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
Page 234 and 235:
THE MECC LOGO The logo of the Middl
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Conducted every 5 years, the assemb
Page 238 and 239:
our skill in reading the writing th
Page 240 and 241:
Patriarch of Jerusalem for the Gree
Page 242 and 243:
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
Page 256 and 257:
You will understand, therefore, tha
Page 258 and 259:
tradition of our Church, is changed
Page 260 and 261:
feeling in themselves the pain of d
Page 262 and 263:
The Coptic Orthodox have been assur
Page 264 and 265:
APPENDIX IX LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS
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APPENDIX X TELEGRAM FROM H.H POPE J
Page 268 and 269:
eport that only a few priests have
Page 270 and 271:
Bibliography Arruda, M. (ed.), Ecum
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