2008 Woodie Awards
Spidlik hosts "Problems and Progress" lecture
Kimberly Grammas
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: News
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On Nov. 27 the Cardinal Spidlik Center for Ecumenical Understanding held a lecture entitled Orthodox and Catholics in Dialogue: Problems and Progress.
"Catholic universities have a responsibility to be a service for the larger life of the Church," said Sacred Heart University President Dr. Anthony J. Cernera.
Father Ronald Roberson of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gave a historical overview of the dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.
Dialogue between the two took time because there was a lot of baggage from the past.
"We need to work slowly and deliberately towards difficult issues and gain a fundamental understanding," said Father Roberson.
In 1979 Patriarch Dimitris and Pope John Paul II had established dialogue between the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church are known as sister churches and share a common understanding between scripture and tradition while at the same time being divided.
Father Thomas FitzGerald of the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology remembers the Ecumenical Movement always being a part of his life.
He spoke about the cism between the east being the Orthodox Church and the west being the Catholic Church.
After the Protestant Reformation the Catholic Church's relationship with the Orthodox Church took second place and Rome became more concerned with the challenges that the Protestant Reformation was taking.
While the west emphasizes the unity of persons, the east emphasizes the distinctiveness of persons.
Orthodox priests also have the option to get married and a majority of them do, while Catholic priests sacrifice marriage.
Both sides have different ideas as well when dealing with the position and authority of the Pope.
The language difference, the cultural difference, political views, and even personality problem all come into play and even to go as far as the type of bread that is used for the Eucharist and fasting practices.
In May 2001 the Pope visited Athens, Greece to improve the relations with the Orthodox Church and apologize for what has occurred in the past.
Then, in 2002, the Pope traveled to Bulgaria bringing with him an increased sense of trust by the Greek Orthodox Church with the Catholic Church.
"We need to constantly pray for the reconciliation and union of our churches," said Father FitzGerald.
"Catholic universities have a responsibility to be a service for the larger life of the Church," said Sacred Heart University President Dr. Anthony J. Cernera.
Father Ronald Roberson of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gave a historical overview of the dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.
Dialogue between the two took time because there was a lot of baggage from the past.
"We need to work slowly and deliberately towards difficult issues and gain a fundamental understanding," said Father Roberson.
In 1979 Patriarch Dimitris and Pope John Paul II had established dialogue between the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church are known as sister churches and share a common understanding between scripture and tradition while at the same time being divided.
Father Thomas FitzGerald of the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology remembers the Ecumenical Movement always being a part of his life.
He spoke about the cism between the east being the Orthodox Church and the west being the Catholic Church.
After the Protestant Reformation the Catholic Church's relationship with the Orthodox Church took second place and Rome became more concerned with the challenges that the Protestant Reformation was taking.
While the west emphasizes the unity of persons, the east emphasizes the distinctiveness of persons.
Orthodox priests also have the option to get married and a majority of them do, while Catholic priests sacrifice marriage.
Both sides have different ideas as well when dealing with the position and authority of the Pope.
The language difference, the cultural difference, political views, and even personality problem all come into play and even to go as far as the type of bread that is used for the Eucharist and fasting practices.
In May 2001 the Pope visited Athens, Greece to improve the relations with the Orthodox Church and apologize for what has occurred in the past.
Then, in 2002, the Pope traveled to Bulgaria bringing with him an increased sense of trust by the Greek Orthodox Church with the Catholic Church.
"We need to constantly pray for the reconciliation and union of our churches," said Father FitzGerald.
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