The historical and theological questions relating respectively to the Filioque and the dogma of Infallibility: these are the themes on which the members of the Coordination Committee of the International Mixed Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church discussed, under the co-presidency of Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, meeting from 3 to 7 June at the “Oasi Santa Maria” Spirituality Center of ‘Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto. During the work, the Coordination Committee examined a draft document entitled “Towards Unity in the Faith: Theological and Canonical Issues”, which summarizes the results achieved so far by the dialogue between Roman Catholics and Orthodox. “Questions still to be resolved” as stated in the final statement released today and for which “two subcommissions have been set up, and each has been asked to produce a draft document on one of these two topics”. It was decided that, “once these two drafts are completed, the Coordination Committee will meet again, hoping that this can happen next year, in days and place yet to be defined, in order to discuss the documents in detail”. The members of the Committee, the press release reports, “await with trepidation the next anniversary in 2025 of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council held in Nicaea in 325, and pray that this event will be an inspiration on the path towards the recomposition of full communion”.
