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ACNS 3847     |     ACO     |	  28 JUNE 2004

Photographs for this item are available here:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/38/00/acns3847.cfm

The International Commission of the Anglican-Orthodox Theological
Dialogue

Canterbury, United Kingdom, June 2004

[ACNS] The International Commission of the Anglican-Orthodox Theological
Dialogue met in the International Study Centre, Canterbury Cathedral, in
the United Kingdom, from Monday, 21 June - Friday, 25 June, 2004.

The Commission wish to record their gratitude to the staff of the Centre
for the warmth of their welcome; to the Revd Canon Richard Marsh, Canon
Librarian of Canterbury Cathedral, who gave the Commission members a
guided tour of the Cathedral by candlelight on the Tuesday evening, and
to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams,
who hosted a dinner for the Commission on the Thursday evening.

The Commission is composed of representatives of the Orthodox Churches
and of the Anglican Communion. The Dialogue began its work by exploring
theological and doctrinal issues of concern for dialogue between the
Anglican and Orthodox Churches in 1973. Agreements reached in its first
two stages were set out in the Moscow Agreed Statement of 1976 and the
Dublin Agreed Statement of 1984. In its present third phase, which began
in 1989, the Commission has been examining ecclesiological issues in the
light of our faith in the Holy Trinity, the Person of Christ and the
Holy Spirit.

In 2001, at Volos, Greece, the Commission focussed on the ordained
ministry of the Church and approved an Interim Agreed Statement on
Episcope, Episcopos and Primacy. This was followed in 2002, at
Abergavenny, Wales, by another Interim Agreed Statement, Priesthood,
Christ and the Church. There the Commission began to concentrate on an
examination of the issues surrounding the ordination of women to the
priesthood. The discussion of non-ordained ministry was also begun.
Discussion on both issues continued in Addis Ababa in 2003.

In Canterbury, the Commission received the first draft of an Agreed
Statement on lay ministries in the Church, and on the question of the
ministries of women and men, including the question of ordination to the
diaconate, presbyterate and episcopate. Consideration of this latter
topic was postponed until further work could be completed on the
presentation of Orthodox understandings of these matters.

Papers on Heresy and Schism were received from Professor William Green
(on the Anglican side) and Bishop Basil of Sergievo (on the Orthodox
side) and discussed by the Commission. The Commission went on to receive
and discuss papers on the theology and practice of Reception from
Professor John Riches (on the Anglican side) and Metropolitan John of
Pergamon (on the Orthodox side).

The Commission will meet again in 2005. At this meeting, draft Agreed
Statements will be discussed on both the issue of the Ordination of
Women to the Presbyterate and Episcopate, and on Heresy, Schism and
Reception, in addition to the completion of work of Lay Ministries and
the Diaconate. The goal is to bring together all the Interim Agreements
since 1989 in a Report for publication in 2006.

Commission Members present in Canterbury were:

Orthodox

Metropolitan John of Pergamon
(Ecumenical Patriarchate) (Co-chair)
Metropolitan Petros of Aksum
(Patriarchate of Alexandria)
Fr Michael Harper
(Patriarchate of Antioch)
Bishop Basil of Sergievo
(Patriarchate of Moscow)
Professor Dr Mircea Ielciu
(Patriarchate of Romania)
Bishop Gerasim Sharashenidze and Archpriest Giorgi Zviadadze
(Church of Georgia)
Bishop Vasilios of Trimithus
(Church of Cyprus)
Professor Constantine Scouteris
(Church of Greece)
Bishop Ilia of Philomelion
(Church of Albania)
Metropolitan Ambrosius of Helsinki
(Church of Finland)
The Revd Dr Vaclav Jezek
(Church of Czech Lands and Slovakia)
Fr Matthias Palli
(Church of Estonia)
Fr Christos B Christakis
(Co-secretary)

Anglican

The Rt Revd Mark Dyer
(Co-chair)
The Rt Revd Max Thomas
(Anglican Church of Australia)
The Rt Revd John Baycroft
(Anglican Church of Canada)
The Revd Dr Timothy Bradshaw
(Church of England)
The Revd Dr Donald Ross Edwards
(Anglican Church of Australia)
The Revd Dr John Gibaut
(Anglican Church of Canada)
The Revd Canon Jonathan Gough
(Archbishop of Canterbury's Representative)
The Revd Canon William Green
(Episcopal Church of the USA)
The Rt Revd William Gregg
(Episcopal Church of the USA)
The Revd Canon Livingstone Ngewu
(Church of the Province of Southern Africa)
The Revd Dr Duncan Reid
(Anglican Church of Australia)
The Revd Prof John Riches
(Episcopal Church of Scotland)
The Ven Dr Joy Tetley
(Church of England)
The Revd Canon Hugh Wybrew
(Church of England)
The Revd Canon Gregory Cameron
(Co-secretary) (Anglican Communion Office)

Canterbury, United Kingdom, 25 June, 2004

Metropolitan John of Pergamon
Orthodox Co-Chairman

The Rt Revd Mark Dyer
Anglican Co-Chairman

For more information see here:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/ecumenical/index.cfm

or please contact:

The Revd Canon Gregory Cameron
Director of Ecumenical Affairs and Studies
Anglican Communion Office
St Andrew's House
16 Tavistock Crescent
London W11 1AP
ENGLAND
Tel: +44 (0)20 7313 3900
Fax: +44 (0)20 7313 3999
Gregory.cameron@anglicancommunion.org

The Revd Dr Christos B Christakis
Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 2500 Grand Avenue
Middletown, OH 45044
USA
Tel: +1 513 422 2312
Fax: +1 513 423 1141
FrChristos@yahoo.com

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