Join Statement of the Patriarchs of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East
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Gerges Mounir Hanna – OCP News Service – 23/10/2022
Cairo – Egypt: 13th Meeting of the heads of Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East was held in LOGOS Papal Center at the Papal Residence, St. Bishoy’s Monastery, Wadi El-Natroun, Egypt from 18th to 20th of October 2022. The meeting was led by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, and His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, and His Holiness, Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia.
A joint statement was signed at the end of the meeting. The statement translation that is taken from offical coptic church source is given below:
The Thirteenth Meeting
of the Patriarchs of The Oriental Orthodox Churches in the Middle East
in LOGOS Papal Center at the Papal Residence, St. Bishoy’s Monastery, Wadi El-Natroun, Egypt
18th-20th of October 2022
Joint Statement
In the Name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
We, Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, Patriarch Mar Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, and Catholicos Aram I, the Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia, Antelias, Lebanon,
We thank God for granting us to hold the 13th Official Meeting for the Patriarchs of our Churches since 1998, within the framework of the communion of faith that is existing since the first centuries of Christianity.
Since early Christianity, our three Churches are joint through common Apostolic heritage and one faith, firmly adhering to our spiritual heritage and unity in faith that is sourced from the Holy Bible, that was expressed in the first three Ecumenical Councils: Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) ,the Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.) and the Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.), and through the teachings of our Saintly Fathers and the refusal of heresies by our Churches throughout their history.
We support our Church’s decisions issued in the context of our common services in our Churches throughout the world, especially in the Middle East, the origin of martyrdom since the Apostolic era, and what we have received from our Fathers, Saints and Martyrs and to protect it as a sacred gift for all generations.
We have researched and studied the following topics of mutual concerns, having heard the decisions of the Standing Committee:
Firstly: Christian Presence In The Middle East
The Christian presence was and will be one of our major concerns. We studied this presence in depth and the importance of strengthening it, discussing mechanisms to support our children in their countries and providing care to them to help them abide in their countries, limiting the immigration to other countries due to the existing difficult economic situations that the world is going through, especially in the Middle East.
We pray for our children and our countries that are affected by these situations that affect the daily living of all our people in the Middle East. While our Churches seek to present the Christian image through offering social services to all those who are in need, not mentioning the role of our children in other countries in helping our Churches perform its caring duty in the fields of health, education, and social services to its children.
We continue praying to God to reveal to us the destiny of the two Metropolitans Mar Gregory Youhanna Ibrahim and Boules Yazgi, appealing to people of good will and the International Community to make efforts in regard to this.
Secondly: Conversations and Relations with Other Church Families
A) The dialogue with the Byzantine Orthodox Family
1.The dialogue was suspended in November 1993, however following a meeting between some of the Church’s Official Representatives from the two families occurred in Athens on 24th-25th of November 2014, a roadmap for the future work for the Official Theological Committee was put together. As well as the meeting that was held between H.E. Metropolitan Emmanuel and H.G. late Bishop Bishoy on the 12th of April 2018, hosted by His Holiness His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, in Antelias, Lebanon, where they discussed the development of the Theological discussions and prepared for a meeting for all the members of the joint committee in order to continue the dialogue.
We recommend following up these efforts and assign H.G. Bishop Thomas, Bishop of Quassia, to contact H.E. Metropolitan Emmanuel to follow up on this matter.
2. We took note of the meetings that were held by the joint committee between the Russian Orthodox and the Coptic Orthodox Churches in regard to social services, Diakonia service and the exchange of Monastic Visits as well as the Pastoral Service of Russians in Egypt and Coptic Orthodox in Russia.
Also, the meetings that were held between the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church in the framework of the joint committee that was formed between the Churches to look into the fields of social and humanitarian services, academic, cultural civilisation, youth services, monastic life and media.
B) The dialogue with the Catholic Church
We commend the continuity of being in contact with the Catholic Church in which a number of topics relating to the the Holy Sacraments and Virgin Mary in the Holy Bible and the Church’s traditions (Mariology) are discussed.
We pray for the success of the next meeting which will be held in Logos Centre in the Papal Residence in St. Bishoy Monastery, Wadi El-Natroun, Egypt between 29th of January to the 5th of February 2023.
C) The Theological Dialogue with Anglican Church
Since the dialogue was resumed with the Anglican Church in 2013, agreements were reached, and they are being studied by the Churches and we commend this contact between the Churches.
Thirdly: Ecumenical Councils
1. The Middle East Council of Churches
We thank God who allowed the 12th General Assembly for the Middle East Council of churches for the first time in Egypt between the 16th – 20th of May 2022 in Logos Centre. This is a shining proof for the activity of the Coptic Church in the Middle East and the world, it is also a pride for the Coptic Church and all the Orthodox Family of the Middle East. Sixteen Patriarchs attended the assembly who also all met with the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
According to the regulations of the Council, Board chairs and members of the Executive Committee were elected, and our Family will be presented until 2026 by H.E. Metropolitan Antonios, Metropolitan of Jerusalem and five other members of the Executive Committee will be with him, in addition to two other members.
We pray for the success of this assembly.
2. The World Council of Churches
We thank God who allowed the 11th General Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 31st of August to the 8th of September 2022. During this assembly, His Holiness Catholicos Aram was elected to be one of the Heads of the World Council of the Churches, representing the Orthodox Family of the Middle East. H.G. Bishop Thomas, Bishop of Quassia, was also elected as one of the members of the Executive Committee as well as five more of our representatives who were elected to be members of the Central Committee.
We confirm our support to the World Council of Churches in its ecumenical mission and call for peace through conversations, moving the world towards reconciliation, rejecting hatred and the acceptance of others.
We also support the measures taken to help protect our environment and climate as we commend that Egypt will be hosting COP, the Climate Change Conference, on November 27th, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
Fourthly: Our Churches’ News
We presented the important activities for our Churches such as Bishops’ ordinations, consecration of Myron, consecration of churches in the Middle East and all over the world. We also pay attention to the Christian media and Christian channels, youth forums (local and international), Theological and educational centres, Sunday school, pastoral and official visits where our children’s concerns in the Middle East are discussed.
We congratulate the Syriac Church for the commemoration of the departure of St. Jacob of Serugh.
Fifthly: The Syrian Orthodox Church in India
We have listened to a report about the situation of the Syriac Church in India and the efforts of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate to find a solution to this problem.
We pray for the success of the reconciliation efforts to guarantee the freedom of believers to worship in their churches.
Sixthly: The Eritrean Orthodox Church
We thank God for the historical meeting which occurred on Saturday the 9th of July 2022, where His Holiness Pope Tawadros II has met His Holiness Abouna Kirollos I, Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, in the Papal Residence in Cairo where a new chapter began in the relationship between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Church
Seventhly: The Case of El- Sultan Monastery in Jerusalem that is owned by the Coptic Orthodox Church
We are saddened by the recent developments in the case of El-Sultan Monastery that was captured by the Ethiopian monks, and their methods in trying to display their flag during Easter celebrations as proof of their ownership.
We stand and support the Coptic Orthodox Church in its ownership of this Historic Coptic Monastery.
In Conclusion:
We thank the Lord our God for guiding us through our discussions and decisions and we ask Him to give us the strength, courage, and wisdom to work towards reuniting the Churches that He acquired with His Holy Blood and to and to preserve the flock of Christ that was entrusted to us.
We also pray for security, peace, justice, and stability in the whole world, especially in our beloved Middle East, the core of Christianity where the roots of our civilisation and culture stem, as well as the role we hold in it.
Therefor we repeat our call to all our children to remain steadfast and rooted, each in their homeland, witnessing for our Christian faith through love, forgiveness, and joint living with our brethren in our homeland.
We thank all officials that have cooperated in facilitating this meeting and we also thank the Coptic Orthodox Church for hosting this assembly.
Glory to the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen
Source:
Coptic Orthodox Church
OCP News Service
