Meeting of the Pro Oriente Steering Committee for Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue in Vienna

The Pro Oriente Steering Committee for Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue (POSCOCD) held its sixth meeting in Vienna on 12-13 November 2023.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide an update on three of the Steering Committee’s projects promoting Orthodox-Catholic rapprochement.

The “Connecting Dialogues” working group reported on the progress of the new database documenting the different dialogues between Catholics and Orthodox.

The “Healing of Memories" working group, which deals with the particularly sensitive historical issues related to the relationship between Orthodox and Catholics evaluated the recent International Ecumenical Academic Conference “Healing of Wounded Memories” held in Vienna from 9-11 November, and gave an update on the preparation of conferences on specific situations in the Middle East, the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

The "Reception and Inspiration" group is preparing various projects aimed at facilitating the reception of the results of the dialogue in the Church and in wider society.

Reverend Father Hyacinthe Destivelle, OP, member of the Steering Committee and official of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, gave a presentation on the recent General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality and on its ecumenical dimension. Reverend Father Milan Zust and Prof. Julia Naett Vidovic proposed reflections on the last document of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church (Alexandria, 2023).

The last meeting of the Steering Committee took place in Rome in November 2022.

The Pro Oriente Steering Committee for Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue is an informal Orthodox-Catholic dialogue of the Pro Oriente Foundation. Established in 2018, it annually gathers 16 Catholic and Orthodox theologians from different countries to propose initiatives for promoting Orthodox-Catholic rapprochement.