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Communique from the International Commission of the Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue

Posted On : September 23, 2009 2:25 PM | Posted By : Webmaster
ACNS: http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2009/9/23/ACNS4656
Related Categories: ACO - Ecumenical

September 2009 Communiqué, Chania, Crete, Greece.

The International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue
met in Chania, Crete, from Tuesday, 15th September  to Sunday 20th
September  2009, as guests of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, at the
Metropolis of Kydonia and Apokoronos.

The Commission wishes to record its gratitude to His Eminence
Metropolitan Damaskinos of Kydonia and Apokoronos (Chania) and his staff
for the warmth of their hospitality and for their assistance with many
aspects of the meeting. Greetings were received from Metropolitan
Damaskinos and from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the local civil
authorities.

The Commission consists of representatives of the Orthodox Church and of
the Anglican Communion. It began its work in Oxford in 1973. Agreements
reached in its first two stages were set out in (1) the Moscow Agreed
Statement of 1976, and the Dublin Agreed Statement of 1984, and (2) in
the Cyprus Agreed Statement of 2006.

The meeting in Crete was the first plenary meeting of the third stage of
the Dialogue. The Commission discussed the theological convergences
identified in the Moscow, Dublin and Cyprus Statements, and it noted the
ways in which these statements were being distributed and discussed on
both sides. The main topic for this third stage of the dialogue is
theological anthropology, that is, the Christian understanding of the
human person as being in the image and likeness of God, and the
implications of this for church life and contemporary ethical issues. In
the light of the Cyprus Statement The Church of the Triune God papers
were written by the Bishop William Gregg, on hopes and possibilities for
the Anglican-Orthodox dialogue in the future, and by the Revd Dr Timothy
Bradshaw on an Anglican view of Christian anthropology. Two further
papers were discussed examining Christian anthropology; an Anglican
viewpoint by the Revd Professor John Riches, and an Orthodox perspective
by Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia.

The Commission will meet again from 31st August to 6th September 2010 in
Oxford, England, and will address in greater depth certain aspects of
Christian anthropology: 'what is a human being?'; 'the freedom and
growth of the human being with particular reference to the understanding
of image and likeness'; and 'human responsibility for the creation; a
critical overview of recent statements by our churches'.

Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia Orthodox Co-Chairman
Archbishop Roger HerftAnglican Co-Chairman

Chania, Saturday, 19th September 2009

Feast of St Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury

> Commission Members present in Chania were:

Representatives of the Orthodox Church

Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia (Ecumenical Patriarchate)
(Co-chairman)
Metropolitan Petros of Aksum (Patriarchate of Alexandria)
The Revd Fr Alexander Haig (Patriarchate of Antioch)
The Revd Dr George Dion Dragas (Patriarchate of Jerusalem)
The Revd Dr Kirill Hovorun (Patriarchate of Moscow)
Dr Bogdan Lubardic (Patriarchate of Serbia)
Metropolitan Nifon of Târgoviste (Patriarchate of Romania)
Bishop Melkhisedek of Herety (Patriarchate of Georgia)
The Revd Dr Giorgi Zviadadze (Patriarchate of Georgia)
Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Kition (Church of Cyprus)
Bishop Ilia of Philomelion (Church of Albania)
The Revd Dr Christos B Christakis (Co-Secretary)
Members unable to attend:
Professor Constantine Scouteris (Church of Greece)
The Revd Fr Andrzej Minko (Church of Poland)
The Revd Dr Vaclav Jezek (Church of Czech Lands and Slovakia)

Representatives of the Anglican Communion

Archbishop Roger Herft (The Anglican Church of Australia) (Co-Chairman)
The Revd Dr Timothy Bradshaw (The Church of England) (Co -Secretary)
The Revd Dr Thomas Ferguson (The Episcopal Church) [USA]
The Revd Canon Jonathan Goodall (Archbishop of Canterbury's
Representative)
Bishop William Gregg (The Episcopal Church) [USA]
The Revd Deacon Dr Christine Hall (The Church of England)
The Revd Canon Philip Hobson OGS (The Anglican Church of Canada)
Ms Natasha Klukach (The Anglican Church of Canada)
Bishop Michael Lewis (The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & the Middle
East)
The Revd Dr Duncan Reid (The Anglican Church of Australia)
The Revd Canon Professor John Riches (Scottish Episcopal Church)
Bishop John Stroyan (The Church of England)
The Revd Joseph Wandera (The Anglican Church of Kenya)
Neil Vigers (Staff - Anglican Communion Office)
Members unable to attend:
Dr Paula Gooder (The Church of England)

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