by Father Matthew Attia

The Coptic Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church split at the council of Chalcedon in 451 AD.  From the fifth century to the middle of the twentieth century both Churches remained apart making very infrequent and brief contacts.  The first break through came in 1963, when the Coptic Church accepted an invitation from the Catholic Church to attend (as observers) the second Vatican council, in Rome.

In 1965, Pope Kyrillos VI sent a delegation to meet Pope Paul VI in an attempt to return the relics of St Mark from Venice.  In June 1968 the Holy relics of St Mark were returned to Egypt and in the following year a Coptic delegation visited Rome to strengthen ties between the two churches.  In November 1971 the Catholic Church attended the Enthronement ceremony of Pope Shenouda to the Apostolic See of St Mark.  Through such exchange visits, bridges of communication were constructed, opening the way for cordial relations between the Church of Alexandria and the Church of Rome.

Historic Meeting

The biggest step taken to advance Coptic-Catholic relations was the historic visit of Pope Shenouda III to Pope Paul VI in May 1973.  Both Patriarchs signed a common declaration on May 10, 1973, part of which reads:

“Jesus Christ is perfect God with respect to His Divinity, perfect Man with respect to His Humanity.  In Him His Divinity is united with His Humanity in a real perfect union without mingling, without separation and without division.  In Him are preserved all the properties of His Divinity and all the properties of His Humanity together in a real perfect indivisible and inseparable Union.

The declaration put an end to the dispute existing between the two Churches since the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD.

Dialogue in Progress

Following the Historic Ecumenical encounter of May 1973 a joint commission was established to address key issues of Theological differences between the two churches.  This Commission conducted four official consultations between 1974 and 1978.  In June 1979, Pope Shenouda sent a delegation led by Bishop Athanasious of Beni Seuif to meet the newly enthroned Bishop of Rome:  Pope John Paul II.  The delegation conveyed the greetings of Pope Shenouda and a letter.

Ecclesiology only very little progress has been reached… in the conception of the future relations between the two Churches and the practical steps to be taken at present and in the near future”.

Following this meeting in Rome, the work of the commission stopped owing to exile of Pope Shenouda between 1981 and 1984.

Re-Launching the Dialogue

When Pope Shenouda, at the beginning of 1985, was able to resume completely his functions, steps were taken to re-launch the theological dialogue between the Churches.  Pope Shenouda sent Bishop Arsanious to Rome to make contacts and forward proposals.  A Catholic delegation led by Fr. Pierre Duprey, secretary of the secretariat for promoting Christian Unity, came to Egypt for first round talks of resuming the work of the international joint commission of dialogue, the subjects to be treated and the ways and means to do so.

Towards a Christology Formula

In 1986, Pope Shenouda assigned Bishop Bishoy and Bishop Paula to Rome requesting that both Churches produce a concise formula, recapitulating the essence of the doctrinal agreement of 1973, and making it more accessible to the faithful.  In June 1986, the Holy Synod of the Coptic Church ratified the Christology (ie nature of Christ) statement, and communicated this to Rome, who also accepted following a joint ecumenical conference in Cairo in August of 1987.

The fruits of these great ecumenical efforts were manifested in the Christology document signed in February 1988, at the Monastery of St Bishoy.