杏MAP导航

By Devin Watkins

Around 5,000 people attending the Jubilee of the Holy See processed through the Holy Door of St. Peter鈥檚 Basilica on Monday, June 9, led by 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV.

As they entered, they passed by a plaque that memorialized an encounter in 1967 between 杏MAP导航 St. Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople. The inscription says they prayed 鈥渇or the restitution of full communion between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.鈥�

Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk, President of the International Orthodox Theological Association, joined the Vatican employees on their pilgrimage to mark the 2025 Jubilee year.

Speaking to Vatican News, Dr. Gavrilyuk said the historic meetings between the 杏MAP导航 and the Patriarch were 鈥渋ncredibly important steps towards Church unity,鈥� which his organization hopes to continue.

He attended the Jubilee of the Holy See 鈥渢o offer my gratitude to God and also to listen to the 杏MAP导航's wise words about Christian unity and reconciliation.鈥�

Dr. Gavrilyuk also serves as the Aquinas Chair of Theology and Philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States.

His organization, known as IOTA, helped organize a conference at the Pontifical Angelicum University in Rome last week, entitled 鈥淣icaea and the Church of the Third Millennium: Towards Catholic-Orthodox Unity.鈥�

The Council of Nicaea in 325 sought to 鈥渇ix divisions in the Church and restore unity,鈥� said Dr. Gavrilyuk. 鈥淭hey succeeded in proclaiming one creed, and that is the Nicene-Constantinople Creed we still say at Mass and worship [services].鈥�

The conference on the 1,700th anniversary of Nicaea looked beyond the Council as a historical event, focusing on the future of unity in the Church.

鈥淲hen we speak about the Church of the Third Millennium, the hope and expectation was that this would be a Church that in fact would enjoy, especially as far as Catholics and Orthodox are concerned, full communion,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that of course means partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ at the same table.鈥�

Dr. Gavrilyuk said the International Orthodox Theological Association unites over 1,700 Church leaders and scholars from 44 countries to facilitate the exchange of knowledge about the Orthodox tradition.

The conference on June 4-7 brought together Catholics of both the Latin rite and Eastern rites, as well as Bishops and scholars of the Coptic, Syriac, Chalcedonian, and Armenian traditions. They were joined by Archbishop Rowan Williams of the Angelican Communion and Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

鈥淚n past theological dialogues,鈥� said Dr. Gavrilyuk, 鈥渨e tended to emphasize more the trees of our divisions and differences and not the forest of our fundamental agreement on the fact that we believe in God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We also believe fundamentally that the Son of God who is fully God became human for us and for our salvation.鈥�

Dr. Gavrilyuk said Catholic-Orthodox dialogue should focus on theological themes that unite us as Christians.

He said the theology of deification, or divinization, presents the opportunity of a low-hanging fruit, since there is little disagreement on its fundamental tenet - that we participate in the life of God and become 鈥渂y God鈥檚 grace what is God is by nature.鈥�

When he met 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV on Saturday, Dr. Gavrilyuk presented the work of IOTA and his desire to focus on deification.

鈥淲hat's extraordinary about this particular doctrine,鈥� he concluded, 鈥渋s that while it's accepted by both Christian East and Christian West, it has actually never received any significant formal conciliar endorsement.鈥�