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JOINT COMMISSION FOR THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE 
BETWEEN THE CATHOLICH CHURCH AND THE ASSYRIAN CHURCH OF THE EAST

 

PRESS RELEASE

Venice, Italy, 12-14 October 1999

 

The Mixed Committee for Theological Dialogue (MCTD) between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East held its 5th annual meeting from 12 to 14 October 1999. The meeting took place at Casa Cardinal Piazza (Venice, Italy). The members of the MCTD studied the draft of the statement on sacramental life, which had been in preparation since 1995 after the "Common Christological Declaration", was signed on 11 November 1994 by Pope John Paul II, Bishop of Rome and Mar Dinkha·IV, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East.

The discussion of this year's meeting centered around (i) finalising the text of the preparatory state­ment; (ii) the inclusion of further suggestions to the statement; (iii) some ecclesiological and pastoral implications of approving such a statement; (iv) clari­fying where would the "Statement on Sacramental Life" lead our two churches; (v) news and informa­tion about related ecumenical issues.

On Wednesday the 13th of October members of the MCTD and of the members from the Catholic-Mennonite Dialogue, who were also meeting in Casa Cardinal Piazza, attended a luncheon reception offered by H.E. Marco Cardinal Ce, the Patriarch-Archbishop of Venice.

The next meeting of the Mixed Committee is planned to be held in Florence (Italy) from the 11th to 13th of October 2000. In this meeting the following papers will be presented: (i) The "Three Chapters" controversy: its relationship to the con­demnation of Nestorius; (ii) The Council of Florence: its ecumenical significance for MCTD dialogue; (iii) The Concept of Communion: an introduction.

The participants from the Catholic Church were: Bishop Walter Kasper (Co-President), Archbishop Cyrille Selim Boustros, Archbishop Antoine Audo, Reverend Father Sarhad Jammo, and Reverend Father Matthew Vellanickal. The participants from the Assyrian Church of the East were Metropolitan Mar Aprem (Co-President), Bishop Mar Bawai Soro, Reverend Archdeacon Yonan Y. Yonan, Reverend Father George Toma and Reverend Father William Yakob. Father Johan Bonny from the Pontifical Council of Promoting Christian Unity was absent from this meeting for personal reasons.

 

[Information Service 102 (1999/IV) 249