The nineteenth meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches took place at the Logos Center of the Saint Bishoy Monastery, Egypt, from 31 January – 4 February 2023 and was hosted by the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Representatives came from the Catholic Church and from the following Oriental Orthodox Churches: the Antiochian Syrian Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church (Catholicosate of All Armenians and Catholicosate of the Holy See of Cilicia), the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Representatives of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church were not present.

The two delegations met separately on the morning of January 31 and February 1. Plenary sessions were held from the afternoon of January 31 through February 3, each day beginning with a brief prayer service based on material prepared for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

On Friday, February 3, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II received the members of the Commission in private audience. In his address, His Holiness stressed in particular that “yesterday is history, tomorrow is unity, and today is a gift that I call a heavenly gift. Your theological dialogue, your discussions, your works and researches are considered as steps on the long way of mutual understanding towards unity in Christ.”

In keeping with the theme, Aspects of Mariology, The Holy Virgin Mary in the Teaching and the Life of the Church, the following papers were presented Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution of the II Vatican Council (LG 52-69)”; Fr. Shahe Ananyan : Bishop Paul Rouhana, “The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the Mystery of Christ and the Church: Chapter VIII of Lumen (read by Archbishop Khajag Barsamian), “The Holy Virgin Mary in the Teaching and in the Life of the Armenian Church”; Fr. Jijimon Puthuveettilkalam SJ, “Mary in the Ecumenical Dialogues: A Harvesting of the Fruits”; Deacon Antonios the Shenoudian, “The Veneration and the Liturgical Celebration of the Virgin Mary in the Coptic Orthodox Tradition”; Fr. Columba Stewart OSB Fr. And Prof. Dietmar W. Winkler, “Mary in the Liturgy of the Latin Church”; Metropolitan George Saliba, “Virgin Mary in the Antiochian Syriac Orthodox Church”; and Metropolitan Mor Polycarpus Aydin, “The Veneration and Liturgical Celebration of the Virgin Mary in the Syriac Tradition”.

In the course of the meeting, which took place in a friendly and cordial atmosphere of intense theological discussion and exchange, the members carefully assessed the papers presented and came to a number of conclusions.

In all these Churches, Mary is honored and venerated with great devotion above all the heavenly hosts and the saints. Nevertheless, the participants of the dialogue affirmed that veneration and theological reflection on Mary must take place in the context of the unique and salvific mission of Jesus Christ and the Church.

While the veneration of Mary has ancient roots in the liturgical practices and devotion of these Churches, the definition of Mary’s divine motherhood at the Council of Ephesus in 431 and the conferral of the title Theotokos, gave impetus to the development of Marian doctrine in the Catholic and oriental Orthodox Churches and traditions. The figure of Mary is commonly viewed from a typological perspective. One of the most ancient of these types presents Mary as the New Eve, a model of fidelity and obedience to the divine will for the individual faithful and the Church.

The development of Marian doctrine and devotion took various paths in these Churches. The discussions reveal from a methodological point of view that on occasion different terms are used to express the same theological reality. There are other times when the same term is used to express different realities. In our meetings we realize that certain topics require further study to determine whether these differences need to be identified as doctrinal divergences or can be instances of legitimate diversity in the expression of our common faith regarding the unique place of the Mother of God in the mystery of Christ and in the life of the Church. These topics include the exploration of the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, original sin, the understanding of dogmas and the hierarchy of truths.

This study and discussion will continue at the next meeting, which will take place in Rome, January 22 to 26, 2024, with arrivals on January 21 and departures on January 27. This meeting will mark the 20th anniversary of this dialogue.