Catholic-Orthodox Meeting Notes Primacy of Charity

(September 30, 2010) Orthodox and Catholic theologians studying one of the main issues on the road to full unity -- the role of the pope -- have concluded their meeting with the resolve to continue studying, and with an emphasis on the "primacy of charity." The International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church concluded its six-day meeting in Vienna on Monday. In this 12th plenary session, the commission has been examining the same theme that drew them together in 2009: "The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church in the First Millennium." During a Eucharistic celebration presided over by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna, the prelate affirmed in his homily, "We have and we need a primacy in the canonical sense, but above all there is the primacy of charity. All canonical dispositions in the Church serve this primacy of love." A communiqué that was released at the end of the meeting noted that 23 Catholic members of the commission took part in the gathering, and representations from all the Orthodox Churches, except the Patriarchate of Bulgaria. The commission discussed on the Bishop of Rome in the 1st Millennium, based on the consideration of a draft text, which is being used as a working document. The commission decided that the document still needs further revisions. It also decided to form a sub-commission to begin consideration "of the theological and ecclesiological aspects of primacy in its relation to synodality," the communiqué reported. The communiqué concluded that this meeting "was marked by a spirit of friendship and trustful collaboration."