Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches held their 8th Meeting

PATRIARCH IGNATIUS ZAKKA I, POPE SHENOUDA III, AND CATHOLICOS ARAM I, SIGN A COMMON DECLARATION IN DAMASCUS

Friday and Saturday, December 9-10, 2005, the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Church, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas of the Syriac Church and His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Armenian Church-Catholicosate of Cilicia, held their 8th meeting, at St. Ephrem Seminary, Ma’arat Saidnaya, Damascus, Syria. This fellowship was founded in 1996.

During their deliberations, the three Heads addressed issues related to the family of the Oriental Orthodox Churches and its theological dialogues with various churches, and discussed matters related to the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Churches of the Reformation, the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches. The socio-political situation in the Middle East as well as the theological seminaries, the youth and the publication sub-committees of the Oriental Orthodox Churches acquired special attention.

The three Heads extended their blessings and appreciation to the Standing Committee, who convened its meeting December 7-8. 

At the end of their meeting, the three Heads signed a Common Declaration encouraging the active participation of their faithful in evangelism, diakonia, Christian education, theological formation and youth activities as genuine expressions of life and witness of their Churches. Additionally, issues related to theological dialogues and ecumenical collaboration on global and regional levels, as well as human rights, social justice, peace and inter-faith relations were highlighted. 

The 9th meeting of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, His Holiness Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I and His Holiness Catholicos Aram I will be hosted by the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia, in Antelias, Lebanon, in November 2006.

The full text of the Common Declaration in Arabic is posted (in pdf format) on this website at: http://www.SocDigest.org/commondecleration2005.pdf