| |
OL EuroEast I, May 2004 - Constantinople, Turkey
"Liturgy as a Foundation for Dialogue"
Patriarch Bartholomew - "We
give thanks to our loving God, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, for the opportunity to warmly welcome you, Your
Beatitude, Your Eminences, Your Graces, dear friends, to our
historic city. It is a joy to greet you during this sacred
season when we celebrate the glorious Resurrection of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. This year we are grateful that all
Christians can together observe Pascha, the feast of feasts,
as well as the feast of the Ascension and the feast of
Pentecost. We recognize the presence of many eminent speakers
here at the conference, and we thank them for their contribution.
We thank all of you for coming to our historic city. We also
express our appreciation to Mr. Jack Figel for organizing this
important meeting of Orientale Lumen here in Istanbul. We have
followed with much interest the deliberations of the Orientale
Lumen Conferences since they began in 1997. From the beginning
these conferences have expressed a special appreciation for the
light of the East. In the spirit of the apostolic letter
Orientale lumen by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, the
conferences have examined the rich spiritual and theological
treasures of the Christian East. We firmly believe that this
is a noble and necessary endeavor which serves the cause of
reconciliation and unity."
Patriarch Gregorios III - "The
liturgy is not the only basis of Christian unity, however; the
liturgy is itself one of its sources (not withstanding the
diversity of languages, traditions, expressions, and of the
spiritual and literary genius of each liturgy or rite) because
the object of the liturgy, its substance and content is the
mystery of Christ, as St. Paul says, in “its breadth and
length and depth and height” (Eph 3:18); in all its dimensions,
aspects, epiphanies and transfigurations, in all its extent
and horizons. This is what the Fathers of the Church have so
well expressed by the typically Eastern phrase “economy of
salvation."
Archbishop Vsevolod of Scopelos - "One
of my favorite psalm verses expressly deals with the overriding theme
of all of our Orientale Lumen conferences. “Behold, how good and
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 132:1).
This is a simple but powerful message. We are clearly instructed to
live and work and pray together in unity. The psalmist tries to
convince us that God wants all His children to live together on this
one small planet, helping each other find salvation, and assisting
each other in our daily tasks."
Archimandrite Robert Taft - "What
is this divine gift, this Pauline “communion in the Holy Spirit,”
which numerous eastern liturgies invoke to open the anaphora, and
which the liturgical texts cited see as a fruit of eucharistic
communion? Do we not receive, rather, communion in the one body
of Christ, according to 1 Cor 10:16-17? This is a pseudo-problem.
In classical Trinitarian theology, the one Triune God is the cause
of the whole economy of salvation. The only distinctions in God
are those interior to the Trinity. The Father is neither Son nor
Holy Spirit, the Son is neither Father nor Spirit, the Spirit is
neither Father nor Son. But whatever one of the persons does,
wherever one of them is and acts, there, too, the whole divine nature
with the other two divine persons are and act."
|
|
