Meeting of the Saint Irenaeus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group in Paderborn
The Saint Irenaeus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group convened for its 20th anniversary meeting from 25-29 September 2024, at the Archdiocesan Seminary in Paderborn, where its inaugural meeting was held in 2004.
The meeting was chaired by the Orthodox co-president Metropolitan Grigorios (Papathomas) of Peristeri (Church of Greece) and the Catholic co-president Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg.
The Working Group focused its discussions on the main topic, ‘Schisms as an Inner-Church Phenomenon: Towards a Typology’. Following an initial discussion on the Alexandria Document (2023), the group examined various examples of schisms and potential schismatic tendencies within the Church, considering their cultural, social, and religious dimensions. The group also reflected on the past 20 years and discussed the future prospectus of the Irenaeus Group. The participants' reflections were consolidated into a communiqué [EN] [DE].
Father Hyacinthe Destivelle, an official of the DPCU and a member of the Saint Irenaeus Group, participated in the meeting and delivered a presentation on “Conditions for Reform without Schism. Topicality of Yves Congar’s Criteria.”
The Saint Irenaeus Joint Orthodox–Catholic Working Group, established in 2004 in Paderborn (Germany), comprises 26 theologians, 13 Orthodox, and 13 Catholics, from various European countries, the Middle East, and the Americas.
The Group’s previous meeting took place Balamand, Lebanon, in June 2023.