Roman Catholics and Orthodox in Crete
15/06/2011
The ancient Greek island town of Rethymno on the west coast of Crete is hosting a crucial ecumenical encounter between Catholic and Orthodox leaders this week. The president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch and Metropolitan Hilarion Alfayev, in charge of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate, are among those participating in the working group meeting taking place from June 14th to 18th. The main task of the group is to draw up a new joint document on the theme ‘The role of the Bishop of Rome in the communion of the Church during the first millennium’, to replace an earlier ‘Crete document’ that was rejected by some Orthodox Churches.
But why is this such an important encounter and what kind of progress can we expect by the end of the week? To find out more, Philippa Hitchen spoke with the secretary of the Pontifical Council, Bishop Brian Farrell.
