Church Study Group convenes at Stamford center (01/10/93)

Church Study Group convenes at Stamford center

STAMFORD, Conn. - Continuing the work begun in August at the Oxford Consultation, the Kievan Church Study Group held its second theological consultation on October 5, 6 and 7 at the Ukrainian Catholic diocesan center in Stamford, Connecticut, at the invitation of Bishop Basil H. Losten.

The group is composed of interested hierarchs, clergy, and faithful of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and interested hierarchs, clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Bishop Losten began with a synopsis of what had been accomplished at the Oxford consultation, to refresh the memory of those who had been at the first consultation, and to bring the new participants up to date. On Monday afternoon, the Rev. Archimandrite Boniface Luykx, Superior of the Mount Tabor Ukrainian Catholic Monastery in California, gave a detailed exposition of the Vatican II Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches and some comments on the Decree on Ecumenism (Father Boniface had been involved in the writing of both decrees during the Second Vatican Council).

On Tuesday morning, Bishop Kallistos (Timothy Ware), bishop of Diokleia and Spalding Lecturer of Eastern Orthodox Studies at Oxford University, presented a paper titled "Towards an Orthodox Appreciation of the Roman Primacy," based on the Roman exercise of primacy in the first millennium and the response of the Eastern Churches at that time. The Rev. Peter Galadza responded with a presentation of the Roman primacy as understood in the Vatican II Constitution on the Church.

On Wednesday morning, the Rev. Protopresbyter Emmanuel Clapsis of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological Seminary at Brookline, Mass., presented a paper on the Freising Statement and the Ariccia working draft, which were elaborated by the Joint International Commission on Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

Wednesday afternoon was devoted to a discussion of the ongoing work of the Kievan Church Study Group; it was agreed to meet in April 1993 at the Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky Institute of St. Paul's University in Ottawa, and in August 1993 again in Oxford.

Besides the speakers, participants in the Stamford consultation included Bishop Vsevolod of Skopelos (ruling hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America); Bishop Julian (Voronovsky), rector of the Holy Spirit Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Theological Seminary in Lviv; the Rev. Archimandrite Ephren (Lash) of the Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Assumption, England; the Rev. Archimandrite Serge (Keleher) of Keston Research, Oxford; the Rev. Dr. Archpriest Oleh Krawchenko of St. Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox College at the University of Manitoba; the Rev. Ihor Kutash, Ph.D., of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada; the Rev. Antony Ugolnik, Ph.D., of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America; the Rev. Andriy Chirovsky, Ph.D., director of the Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky Institute of St. Paul's University in Ottawa; the Rev. Peter Galadza, of the same institute; and the Rev. Andrii Onuferko, Ph.D., of Radio Resurrection, Lviv.

Bishop Paul Vasylyk of Ivano-Frankivske, Ukraine, was a special guest of the Study Group. The Rev. Roman Mirchuk assisted Bishop Julian and Bishop Paul as interpreter and translator.

Papers from the Oxford consultation will be published as announced in Logos, as will the papers of the Stamford consultation. Both sets of papers may be ordered from: Consultation Papers - LOGOS, Metropolitan A. Sheptytsky Institute, St. Paul University, 223 Main St., Ottawa, Ontario.

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