Members of the Lutheran-Orthodox Joint International Commission on Theological Dialogue during their mid-November meeting. Photo: Hellenic College Holy Cross
Cyprus to host first plenary of 19th Session focused on synodality and primacy in Eastern and Western traditions
(LWI) - Following on from a groundbreaking agreement at the conclusion of their last meeting in May 2024, members of the Lutheran-Orthodox Joint International Commission on Theological Dialogue met in the United States from 12 to 14 November to prepare for the first session of a new round of dialogue which will take place in Larnaka, Cyprus, next spring.
At the end of their 18th plenary session, held in Cairo, Egypt, the commission members issued a common statement on the ‘Filioque’ clause of the Creed which had divided the Eastern and Western churches for almost a thousand years. They also agreed on a second statement, which will be published at Easter 2025, on the understanding of the Holy Spirit within the two church traditions.
This is a dialogue of great dynamic and potential for lived ecumenism.
Prof. Dr Dirk Lange, LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations
“The results of our last session and, in particular, the ‘Filioque’ statement demonstrate that this is a dialogue of great dynamic and potential for lived ecumenism,” said Prof. Dr Dirk Lange, Assistant General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) for Ecumenical Relations and co-secretary of the Lutheran-Orthodox commission. “The key question now,” he said, “is how to take this statement to the grass roots and ensure it has an impact in our churches and congregations.”
“In our next sessions,” Lange continued, “we will be exploring the topic of synodality, which was the theme at the heart of the recent meeting of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church that I attended in Rome. But during our Lutheran-Orthodox preparatory session in Boston, it became clear that we cannot deal with this issue of synodality without also looking at the question of primacy within our two traditions.”
The preparatory meeting was hosted by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the Huffington Ecumenical Institute at the Hellenic College Holy Cross in Boston. On the final evening, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America celebrated Vespers for the community of college students and seminarians and blessed the commission members.
Origins and future of ecumenical relations
“The archbishop served as a former co-secretary of this Joint Commission and has a long and fruitful history of association with the LWF,” Prof. Lange said. “In his eloquent address to members of the preparatory group and to the students, he underlined the importance of pursuing ecumenical dialogue and especially of face-to-face encounters. Referring to Jesus calling the apostles - ‘Come and see’, he noted that Jesus invites us into real life encounters, not just an exchange of ideas and he reiterated the importance of finding ways to mutual recognition and understanding.”
Students also attended two presentations by commission members Metropolitan Isaias of Tamasos from the Orthodox Church of Cyprus and Prof. Dr Jennifer Wasmuth, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hannover and chair of Ecumenical Theology at the University of Göttingen in Germany. Both speakers traced the history of their dialogue back to correspondence between Lutheran theologians at Tübingen University and the Patriarch of Constantinople in the late 16th century, an early attempt at rapprochement between East and Western Christianity.
Metropolitan Isaias will host the first plenary meeting of the 19th Session in Cyprus from 19 to 25 May 2025 on the theme of Synodality and Primacy. The commission is co-chaired by Bishop Dr Johann Schneider from Germany and Metropolitan Kyrillos of Krini from the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
