SLEC Congress on ‘The Bishop of Rome’ in Budapest

From August 30 to September 4, the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches held its 27th International Congress in Budapest, focusing on the theme "The Bishop of Rome. Future Horizons from Ancient Traditions for Catholics and Orthodox."

Bringing together around fifty Catholic and Orthodox canonists and ecclesiologists, the conference explored topics such as the various expressions of primacy, infallibility, and the relationship between primacy, collegiality, and synodality. Many presentations drew upon the document The Bishop of Rome, published by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (DPCU) in 2024.

Hosted by the Institute of Canon Law of the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, the congress opened with keynote addresses by Metropolitan Grigorios Papathomas, Chair of the SLEC, and Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Budapest.

Fr. Hyacinthe Destivelle, OP, an official of the DPCU, delivered a paper entitled "Full Communion and Ecclesiological Diversity: Toward an Ecclesiological Differentiated Consensus."