Regular session of the Orthodox-Catholic Theological Dialogue on Cyprus

On 17 October 2009, a plenary session of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church began its work on Cyprus. Taking part in the session is a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by the Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk.

The participants will discuss the document on the role of the Pope of Rome in the first millennium prepared by the Joint Commission Coordinating Committee in October 2008. The Russian Orthodox Church presented its critical remarks to the Organizing Committee before the session.

On Sunday, October 18, the ordained Orthodox members of the Commission celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Nicosia. His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostom of Cyprus officiated in concelebration with the representatives of the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Moscow, Serbia, Romania, and Georgia, the Churches of Greece, Poland, and of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. Laymen, who represented the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Albanian Orthodox Church, we praying at the service also attended by the Catholic participants in the session.

At the repast after the Divine Liturgy His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostom and Archbishop Hilarion had a talk.

Later in the day the Commission members visited the Nicosia metochion of the famous Kykkos monastery where they were greeted by its abbot Metropolitan Nicephorus.

The Joint International Commission for the Theological dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church will work till October 23.

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