ECUMENCIAL PATRIARCHATE
17TH PLENARY SESSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION ON THE
THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE LUTHERAN WORLD FEDERATION AND THE
ORTHODOX CHURCH (HELSINKI, FINLAND, 7 NOVEMBER – 14 NOVEMBER 2017)
COMMUNIQUÉ
The 17th Plenary of the International
Joint Commission on the Theological Dialogue between the Lutheran World
Federation and the Orthodox Church was held at Sofia Cultural Center in
Helsinki, Finland (7 November - 14 November 2017), hosted by the
Lutheran World Federation with generous support of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Finland and the Sofia Cultural Center.
The meeting was chaired by the two
co-presidents, from the Orthodox side by H.E. Metropolitan Prof. Dr.
Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate), and from the Lutheran
World Federation side by Archbishop (Em.) Dr. Anders Wejryd (Church of
Sweden).
Orthodox participants were delegates
from the following Churches: H. E. Metropolitan Prof. Dr. Gennadios of
Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and V. Rev. Grand Archdeacon Dr.
Theodoros Meimaris (co-secretary, Ecumenical Patriarchate), H. E.
Senior Metropolitan Dr. Makarios of Nairobi (Patriarchate of
Alexandria), V. Rev. Archimandrite Dr. Alexi Chehadeh (Patriarchate of
Antioch), V. Rev. Protopresbyter Prof. Dr. George Dion Dragas
(Patriarchate of Jerusalem), Rev. Prof. Dr. Valentin Vassechko
(Patriarchate of Moscow), Prof. Dr. Rade Kisić (Patriarchate of Serbia),
Rev. Prof. Dr. Cosmin Pricop (Patriarchate of Romania), V. Rev.
Protopresbyter Prof. Dr. Georgios Zviadadze (Patriarchate of Georgia),
H. E. Metropolitan Dr. Isaias of Tamassos and Oreini (Church of Cyprus),
Prof. (Em.) Dr. Christos Voulgaris (Church of Greece), Rev. Andrzej
Minko (Church of Poland), Mr Nathan Hoppe (Church of Albania), Rev. Dr.
Vaclav Jezek (Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia), and
Consultants: Rev. Stefanos Chrysanthou and Prof. (Em.) Dr. Nikolaos
Nikolaides (Church of Cyprus).
The following Lutheran participants were
representing various member churches of the Lutheran World Federation:
Archbishop (Em.) Dr. Anders Wejryd (Church of Sweden), Prof. Dr. Kenneth
G. Appold (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, USA), Rev. Prof. Dr.
Stephanie Dietrich (Church of Norway), Superintendent Klaus Schwarz
(Evangelical Lutheran Church of Wurttemberg, Germany), Rev. Dr. Jeffrey
Silcock (Lutheran Church of Australia), Rev. Prof. Dr. Risto Saarinen
(Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland), Rev. Prof. Dr. Thomas-Andreas
Põder (Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church), Rev. Dr. Anton Tikhomirov
(Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Russia and Other
States), Rev. Dr. Stefan Tobler (Evangelical Church of the Augsburg
Confession in Romania), Rev. Heidi Zitting (Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Finland), Rev. Prof. Dr. Jennifer Wasmuth (Institute for Ecumenical
Research, France, Consultant), Rev. Dr. Kaisamari Hintikka (LWF,
co-secretary) and Rev. Anne Burghardt (LWF, staff support).
Ms Tiina Kinnunen and Mr Tapio Juntunen, students from the University of Eastern Finland, served the Commission as stewards.
The Commission studied the Draft Common
Statement from the Preparatory Committee held in Nicosia, Cyprus, 2016.
The following remarks and observations on the Draft Statement were
presented: on Sections I and II: “Hermeneutical approaches on the
terminology and different understandings of a) ‘Ministry’, ‘Ordained
Ministry’/’Priesthood’ and ‘Service’ (Diakonia) and b) Biblical
foundations of ‘Ordained Ministry’/’Priesthood’” (Rev. Dr. Jeffrey
Silcock from Lutheran and Prof. Dr. Rade Kisić from Orthodox
perspective); on Section III: “The Ordained Ministry/Priesthood in the
Early Church and the Ecumenical Councils” (Rev. Prof. Dr. Stephanie
Dietrich from Lutheran and the V. Rev. Archimandrite Dr. Alexi Chehadeh
from Orthodox perspective); on Section V of the Nicosia 2016 Draft
Statement: ‘‘Theology and Practice of Ordination’’ (Rev. Prof. Dr. Risto
Saarinen from a Lutheran and H.E. Metropolitan Dr. Isaias of Tamassos
from an Orthodox perspective); on Section VI: “The relationship between
the Royal Priesthood and the Ordained Ministry/Priesthood” (Rev. Prof.
Dr. Jennifer Wasmuth from Lutheran and Rev. Prof. Dr. Cosmin Pricop from
Orthodox perspective); Section VII: “Episcopate and Apostolic
Succession” (Rev. Prof. Dr. Thomas-Andreas Põder from Lutheran and Mr
Nathan Hoppe from Orthodox perspective); on Section VIII: "The role and
the place of women in the life of the Church and the ordination of
women" (Prof. Dr. Kenneth G. Appold from Lutheran and V. Rev.
Protopresbyter Prof. Dr. George Dragas from Orthodox perspective).
Following the discussions on the
presented papers, the Commission assigned a Joint Drafting Committee, in
order to finalize the Nicosia Statement in view of the presented papers
and the discussions. A modified draft Statement was presented to the
Commission and was amended and approved. This common Statement
identified areas where Orthodox and Lutherans agree and disagree on
several topics between the two traditions. In addition, the Commission
had a thorough discussion on the future of the dialogue. It was decided
that the main topic for discussions on the next phase will be ‘‘the role
of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church’’.
On Sunday, November 12, the Commission
members participated in the consecration of the newly elected Bishop of
Helsinki, Rev. Dr. Teemu Laajasalo at the Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral.
They had also the opportunity to visit the Uspenskij Cathedral of the
Finnish Orthodox Church in Helsinki.
On Monday, November 13, a
Lutheran-Orthodox Seminar took place within the framework of the Joint
Commission meeting, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the
Reformation, under the theme “Legacy of the Reformation – Lutheran and
Orthodox approaches”. The Seminar was greeted by: the Archbishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Dr. Kari Mäkinen; H.E.
Metropolitan Ambrosius of Helsinki; the two co-presidents, H.E.
Metropolitan Prof. Dr. Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate),
and Archbishop (Em.) Anders Wejryd (Church of Sweden), and Rev. Dr.
Mari-Anna Auvinen, General Secretary of the Finnish Council of Churches.
Presentations were given by Rev. Dr. Martin Junge, General Secretary of
the Lutheran World Federation on Freedom of a Christian: Luther’s Legacy for Today; Prof. (Em.) Dr. Konstantinos Delikostantis on The Reformation’s notion of Christian Freedom from an Orthodox Perspective (presented by the V. Rev. Grand Archdeacon Dr. Theodoros Meimaris); Prof. (Em.) Dr. Eila Helander on The Impact of the Reformation on Finnish Culture and Society and Rev. Heikki Huttunen, General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches, on Living as an Orthodox in a Predominantly Lutheran Country.
The Commission thanked with deep
appreciation H.E. Metropolitan Ambrosius of Helsinki for the generous
hospitality and for the possibility to use the Chapel of the Sofia
Cultural Center for morning and evening prayers which were offered by
Lutheran and Orthodox members of the Commission alternately.
The next Meeting of the Commission is scheduled to take place early 2019 (the place to confirmed).
Helsinki, November 14, 2017