First Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue in India begins today

Dialogue between the Oriental Orthodox Church and the Catholic church begins at the Samavaya Ecumenical Study Centre, Pambakkuda, near Kochi city in Kerala, on Tuesday.

This is the first time such dialogue is being held in India.

Delegates from the Oriental Orthodox Churches of Egypt, Armenia, India, Syria, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, and the Catholic Church are participating in this weeklong and an important dialogue between the two churches.

Thirty five delegates from those countries will discuss issues like ecclesiology, episcopacy, apostolic succession, the relevance and important of the Ecumenical Councils, the church and its mission, Metropolitan Dr Gabriel Gregorios told reporters in Kochi.

Last year, the conference was held in Rome and in 2012 at Ethiopia.

Gabriel Gregorios, Metropolitan Dr Yuhanon Demetrius and Father Mathew Vellanickal are the delegates from India in the dialogue.

"The dialogue also seeks to emphasise that communion in worship and sacraments is multi-faceted and multi-layered, hence putting the onus on the Churches to realise this aim," the metropolitan added.

The event would conclude on February 2.