Greeting from His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch
Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity
to the International Ecumenical Symposium
From Listening to Practice
30 September 2026, Angelicum
Your Eminences, Your Excellencies,
Dear Father Vice-Rector,
Dear Professors and Students,
It is a pleasure and an honour for me to open this international ecumenical symposium on canonical practices of synodality. As the Rector reminded us, in 2019, in this very place, during the inauguration of the Institute for Ecumenical Studies of the Angelicum, I identified the deepening of the ecumenical dimension of canon law as an important academic project to be undertaken[1]. Seven years later, I am delighted to see that this call has not gone unanswered, and furthermore is realised in an ecumenical way.
This symposium is a continuation of the series of conferences entitled ‘Listening to the East’ and ‘Listening to the West’ on the understanding of synodality in the various Christian traditions of the East and West. These conferences, held in 2022 and 2023 at the Angelicum, under the patronage of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the General Secretariat of the Synod, aimed to provide a theological contribution to the reflection of the Synod on synodality (2021–2024). Centred on the principle of listening, these conferences brought together more than a hundred theologians and historians from different Christian traditions and from across various continents, who were invited to present the synodal experience of their Churches, particularly in relation to the three main themes of the Synod: communion, participation and mission. Two substantial volumes have been published in the collection of our Dicastery, which are also available on its website. They constitute a unique gathering of resources on synodality within the four major Christian traditions: Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Mainline Western Churches and Free Churches.
From listening, however, it is important to move on to practice, and in particular to the way in which synodality is reflected in the canonical institutions and processes of the various Christian traditions. This is the very purpose of this symposium, entitled “From listening to practice”, which aims to foster ecumenical reflection on the canonical implications of synodal ecclesiology, with the aim of fostering Christian unity. This conference thus responds to the Final Document of the Synod on Synodality, which stated that “The richness of the participation of Fraternal Delegates from other Churches and Christian Communions at the synodal Assembly invites us to pay more attention to the synodal practices of our ecumenical partners, both in the East and in the West”[2].
In this synodal practice, canon law clearly plays a central role. “When translated into established institutions and procedures of the Church, synodality expresses the ecumenical dimension of canon law”[3], as Pope Francis affirmed. Broadening the perspective to encompass canon law as a whole, he highlighted that “Canon law is essential for ecumenical dialogue”, emphasising that “It is clear that canon law is not only an aid to ecumenical dialogue, but is also an essential dimension of it. Then too it is clear that ecumenical dialogue also enriches canon law”[4]. I am convinced that His Holiness Pope Leo would not say otherwise – he himself being a Canon lawyer trained at this pontifical university!
It is clear that, to a certain extent, an ‘ecumenical law’ of the Catholic Church already exists. On the one hand, the 1983 Code of Canon Law explicitly provides for the Catholic Church’s obligation to participate in the ecumenical movement, an obligation to which it is “bound by the will of Christ”, as stated in canon 755 §1 – to such an extent that one may speak of an ecumenical obligation de iure divino. This obligation is formulated even more clearly in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, which devotes an entire chapter to the promotion of Christian unity, and whose canon 902 states that “all Christian faithful, especially pastors of the Church, shall pray for that fullness of unity desired by the Lord and work zealously participating in the ecumenical work brought about by the grace of the Holy Spirit”[5].
The fact, moreover, that – for the first time in history – the Catholic Church has adopted two distinct codes and thus recognises a certain plurality of law is in itself significant from an ecumenical point of view. It is also significant that the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches was conceived entirely from an ecumenical perspective, since, as saint John Paul II affirmed at the time of its promulgation by the Apostolic Constitution Sacri Canones[6], and as the Second Vatican Council’s Decree Orientalium Ecclesiarum had already envisaged[7], its validity will cease with the restoration of full communion with the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
The restoration of full communion between our Churches will, in effect, require the development of a new juridical order. We shall thus move from a Catholic canon law on ecumenism to an ecumenical canon law. The Dominican Yves Congar, who lived at the Angelicum during the first session of the Second Vatican Council, reflected specifically on the possibility of such an ecumenical canon law. Deeply convinced of the need to rediscover the theological meaning of ecclesiastical law, he identified the sacramental nature of the Church as being the origin of this law. Now, if the Catholic Church recognises an authentic ecclesial character in other Christian Communions, based first and foremost on common baptism, then these Communions, in his view, “will have to be given a status within the juridical order”[8]. Thus, he asserted, “an entire body of ecumenical law needs to be developed”[9].
These are just a few points for reflection which, I am sure, will be part of your discussions during these three days. I would like to thank the Œcumenicum – the Institute of Ecumenical Studies – and the Faculty of Canon Law at the Angelicum for organising this event, as well as the Scientific Committee that prepared it. I look forward to reading your contributions and conclusions and invoke the assistance of the Holy Spirit upon your exchanges. May they serve to the fulfilment of the prayer of our Lord for his disciples that “all may be one…so that the world may believe” (John 17:21).
[1] K. Koch, La dimensione ecumenica della formazione teologica, Conferenza inaugurale, Istituto di Studi Ecumenici, Pontificia Università di SanTommaso d’Aquino (Angelicum), Rome, 23 ottobre 2019, Acta Œcumenica 1 (2019), 149-157.
[2] XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Final Document. For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission, 2024, n. 138.
[3] Pope Francis, Address to Participants in the Conference Promoted by the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches, 19 September 2019.
[4] Ibid.
[5] K. Koch, L’incidenza del CCEO sul dialogo ecumenico, in: Pontificio Consiglio per i testi legislativi (ed.), Il Codice delle Chiese orientali. La storia, le legislazioni particolari, le prospettive ecumeniche. Atti del Convegno di studio tenutosi nel XX anniversario della promulgazione del Codice dei Canoni delle Chiese Orientali (Città del Vaticano 2011) 43-50.
[6] John Paul II, Apostolic Constitution ‘Sacri canones’, 18 October 1990.
[7] Orientalium Ecclesiarum, 1964, n. 30.
[8] Cfr. Y. Congar, « Autonomie et pouvoir central dans l’Église vus par la théologie catholique », Irénikon 53 (1980), 291-313, here 301.
[9] Id., « R. Sohm nous interroge encore », Revue des Sciences philosophique et théologiques 57 (1973), 262-294, here 283.