Religion:Balamand declaration

Short description: 1993 religious report

Uniatism, method of union of the past, and the present search for full communion, also known as the Balamand declaration and the Balamand document, is a 1993 report written by the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church during its 7th plenary session at University of Balamand's Balamand School of Theology in Lebanon.

"The use of violence to occupy a place of worship contradicts" faith in sacramental reality and "the evangelical ethos requires that statements or manifestations which are likely to perpetuate a state of conflict and hinder the dialogue be avoided." Clergy "have the duty before God to respect the authority which the Holy Spirit has given to the bishops and priests of the other Church and for that reason to avoid interfering in the spiritual life of the faithful of that Church. When cooperation becomes necessary for the good of the faithful, it is then required that those responsible to an agreement among themselves, establish for this mutual assistance clear principles which are known to all, and act subsequently with frankness, clarity, and with respect for the sacramental discipline of the other Church." New Catholic pastoral projects, "which imply the creation of new structures in regions which traditionally form part of the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church," should not be established without consulting the Orthodox bishops in the same geographical area to avoid the risk of rivalry and conflict. Instead of intervention by civil authorities, dialogue about "the complexity of present realities and local circumstances" between Churches or local communities should be used to resolve problems such as "the possession or return of ecclesiastical property."

Avoiding "the use of history in a polemical manner [...] will lead to an awareness that faults leading to separation belong to both sides, leaving deep wounds on each side." Clergy should be educated about "the apostolic succession of the other Church and the authenticity of its sacramental life" as should "a correct and comprehensive knowledge of history aiming at a historiography of the two Churches which is in agreement and even may be common." Providing "objective news to the mass-media especially to the religious press in order to avoid tendentious and misleading information" should be a common task to evangelize a secularized world.

"By excluding [...] all proselytism and all desire for expansion by Catholics at the expense of the Orthodox Church, the commission hopes that it has overcome the obstacles which impelled certain autocephalous Churches to suspend their participation in the theological dialogue and that the Orthodox Church will" continue the theological work of the commission.

Participants

Representatives of the Catholic Church and nine autocephalous and autonomous Eastern Orthodox Churches participated: Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, Russian Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox Church, Cypriot Orthodox Church, Polish Orthodox Church, Albanian Orthodox Church, Finnish Orthodox Church under the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Representatives of the Church of Greece, the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church and Orthodox Church of America did not participate.

See also

• Eastern Christianity § Rejection of uniatism
• Personal ordinariates, 21st century organizations for groups with Anglican patrimony to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church
• Ravenna Document
• Anti-religious campaign of Communist Romania
• Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc
• Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union
• Persecutions of the Catholic Church and Pius XII

External links

• Uniatism, method of union of the past, and the present search for full communion