History tells us that, despite the Arian controversy at the Nicene Council, the Macedonians at the Constantinople Council and the Nestorians at the Ephesus Council, the Church remained one until 451, when the Chalcedon Council was convened and disputes arose between the East and the West. This date saw the first cleavage in the body of the Church; today there are the Orthodox churches as well as the Catholic ones, to say nothing of Protestants, Evangelists, and many, many others.
In the 15 centuries since the Chalcedon Council, hundreds of saints and religious leaders have defended the upright faith. Among them were the Alexandrian scholars and popes St Athanasius, St Cyril I, St Severus of Antioch, St Gregory of Nyssa, and many others. The quest to defend the faith has always been thorny, but the Church continued to pray for the “One Apostolic Church” in Holy Mass, and to hold ecumenical dialogues to bridge the gap between the sects. The most recent ecumenical council took place in the Vatican at the end of January 2009. Pope Shenouda III delegated Anba Bishoi, to represent the Coptic Orthodox Church at the Vatican. Watani had this talk with Anba Bishoi.
How did the ecumenical dialogue come about?
The official dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Coptic Church began in the 1970s. In 1973 Pope Shenouda III visited Pope John Paul in the Vatican. Since the Chalcedon Council in 451, when Pope Dioscorus was banished, there had existed a rift between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. Pope Shenouda’s visit after 15 centuries of frozen relations opened a new era for mutual dialogue.
What planning or preparation went in for the Coptic pope’s first visit to Rome in centuries?
In December 1971, when the papal seat was vacant following the death of Pope Kyrillos VI, the Towards The East organisation organised a conference of theological dialogue in Vienna. The Coptic Church sent Anba Shenouda, then Bishop of Education, as its representative. All the Eastern churches were present: the Alexandrian Coptic Church, the Ethiopian Church, the Syrian, Armenian, Byzantine, Constantinople, Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox; as well as the Romanian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Polish, Cypriot, Finnish and Albanian churches. The subject matter of the conference was the nature of Jesus Christ. Delegates and theologians came from all over the world, and many papers were presented. At times the dialogue became heated. Anba Shenouda retired to his room and wrote a paper in English which he read before the participants. All the Orthodox and Catholic theologians who were present agreed with the text, which is as follows:
“We all believe that our God and Saviour Jesus Christ the Word Incarnate is complete in his divinity, complete in his humanity. His humanity was one with His divinity without mingling, without confusion and without alteration. His divinity parted not from His humanity for a single moment nor a twinkling of an eye…”
The phrasing was unanimously accepted by all parties, and Anba Shenouda realised there was hope—even if remote—for a unified Church. This is why, when he later became the Patriarch, he accepted the Vatican Pope’s invitation, hoping they would reach mutual understanding in the particulars of the Christian creed. The visit was a great success and resulted in the signing of a mutual statement about points of agreement regarding the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
When Pope Shenouda visited Germany in 1992, he was granted an honorary doctoral degree in Christology for the document he had written in Vienna years ago.
What efforts go towards unifying the Church at the present time?
After Anba Shenouda’s visit to Vienna, a special committee was formed to discuss theological matters and points of difference between churches. It started its work in 1974, but the progress in ecumenical dialogues came to a standstill in 1981 when the Pope was secluded in the monastery upon the decisions of President Sadat. In 1985, I was chosen by vote to be secretary of the Holy Synod. In February 1988, a Vatican delegation came to Egypt and a meeting was convened at St Bishoi’s Monastery in Wadi Natrun in the Western Desert. This was led by the Pope and was attended by the late Anba Stephanos, Patriarch of the Coptic Catholics, and several other representatives. There we signed the Christology agreement. Since then the gate has been opened in Rome and Egypt to discuss points of difference regarding the issue of the Holy Spirit, and purgatory and suchlike. These dialogues were especially activated once Cardinal Walter Kasper became the head of the Vatican council for relations with other Christian faiths. He came to Egypt in 2003 and met Pope Shenouda III.
In recent years the Coptic Orthodox Church signed agreements with the Syrian Orthodox Church and Armenian Orthodox Church, and they therefore have the right to join the Coptic Orthodox in dialogues with the Catholic Church. In 2003 it was agreed that dialogues would take place on an annual basis in Rome and Egypt alternately.
What was the outcome of these continuous dialogues?
We had ten points of difference to discuss. Of these only three are left unresolved. This year we issued a 16-page document about the ecclesiasticism, which includes the nature of the Church, its message, the seven Sacraments, the role of the Synods and the authorities of the bishops to be presented, to the holy Synods of the Catholic Churches.
Can one say then that, regarding the unified Christian Church, we are almost there?
Oh no, it is not that simple. Although the points of difference are now few, they are crucial. When we reach unity in belief, there will be no place for differences. Therefore, we pray for the sake of unity. It’s a long way but we will keep working for the sake of unifying the church on the basis of one sacred belief.