Catholic Church

International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between  the Catholic Church and Oriental Orthodox Churches

Catholic and Oriental Orthodox representatives, delegated by their Churches, first met 27-30 January 2004, as members of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, under the co-chairmanship of His Eminence Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and His Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy of Damiette, General Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The meeting was held in Nasr City (Cairo, Egypt) at the Saint Mark Centre, hosted by His Holiness, the late Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark. Letters of invitation to this meeting, signed by both co-chairmen, were sent to the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches: the Coptic Orthodox Church, Syrian Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church (Catholicosate of all Armenians), Armenian Apostolic Church (Catholicosate of Cilicia), Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Eritrean Orthodox Church. The same invitation was sent to the Catholic members through the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The commission currently meets annually.

Catholic-Oriental Orthodox Regional Forum in England and Wales (COORF)

The Forum was established in 2007 following discussions at a local level between HE Archbishop Angaelos and HE Archbishop Kevin McDonald of Southwark of the Roman Catholic Church. Its members are the bishops of the Oriental Orthodox Churches and 5 bishops of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference for England and Wales.

COORF meets twice a year and is hosted alternately between the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in London and The Coptic Orthodox Church Centre. HE Archbishop Angaelos has been co-Chair since the inception of the Forum, with HE Archbishop Kevin McDonald as the Roman Catholic Church co-Chair.