News

Main News >

Catholic-Orthodox statement a 'first step' to agreement

24-Nov-07
ENI

Printer Friendly Format. Latest Articles   HCEF Honors Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal in Series of Washington Events   Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem to Celebrate Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle   HCEF Selects Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati to Receive 2008 'Living Stones Solidarity Award'   Children's Peace Project - A Living Bridge of Hope, Unity and Peace   Honoring the Latin Patriarch, HB Fouad Twal in Washington at the Antiochian Orthodox Church News Sections Press Releases Media News

Church leaders have cautiously welcomed a document issued by a joint Roman Catholic-Orthodox commission dealing with the papacy, among other things, as an important move towards overcoming a 950-year rift between the two Christian traditions. "We must be clear this is only a first step, a modest step" said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, after the 14 November publication of the document agreed at a meeting the previous month in Ravenna in northern Italy. A central issue considered at the 8-14 October meeting of the Catholic-Orthodox theological commission concerned the role of the papacy, one of the issues that led to the schism between the two Christian traditions in AD 1054.