OCA Represented at International Theological Conference

Dr. Paul Meyendorff, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Alexander Schmemann Professor of Liturgical Theology at Saint Vladimir Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, NY, attended a 10-day meeting of the Faith and Order Plenary Commission of the World Council of Churches in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia July 28-August 6, 2004.

Commission members reviewed numerous ongoing projects, including studies on Baptism, the nature of the Church, the nature of humankind, and the interpretation of Scripture.

Convened every three to four years, the Faith and Order Plenary Commission brings together theologians from over 100 Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Evangelical/Pentecostal traditions. The commission is the world’s most representative theological forum for Christian unity.

“The Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches has always been one of the most important and prominent international forums for inter-Christian dialogue,” commented Dr. Meyendorff. “Its focuses on addressing divisions among Christians through the detailed study of a broad array of doctrinal issues.”

Dr. Meyendorff was a member of a 20-person Orthodox delegation to the Commission which included His Beatitude, Archbishop Anastasios of Albania; His Eminence, Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima, Ecumenical Patriarchate; His Eminence, Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, Ecumenical Patriarchate; His Eminence, Archbishop Makarios of Kenya and Irinoupolis, Patriarchate of Alexandria; His Grace, Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, Patriarchate of Moscow; and His Grace, Bishop Vasilios of Trimithus, Orthodox Church of Cyprus.

Additional information can be found at www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/kuala-anchor-e.html and http://www2.wcc-coe.org/pressreleasesen.nsf/index/Feat-04-25.html.