Ecumenical Patriarch meets with Anglicans

Constantinople - 5/27/2008 (ARCHONS) - A delegation from the Anglican Communion was received by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, May 19-21, 2008 in Istanbul, Turkey in the framework of the continuation of the informal talks between the two traditions. Members of the delegation were the Rt. Reverend Bishop Mark Dyer, Anglican co-Chairman of the Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue, and the Revd Canons Gregory Cameron, Deputy Secretary General and Director of Ecumenical Affairs at the Anglican Communion Office, and Jonathan Goodall, Chaplain and Ecumenical Officer to the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams.

The above distinguished visitors were met at the airport of Istanbul by a patriarchal representative, and were received by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in audience. During their stay, the delegation had a meeting with the Orthodox Commission, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, Orthodox Co- Chairman of the Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue.

During the informal talks each side was updated on the internal affairs and developments of the other, the course of the dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church and the relationship of each side with the projects of the World Council of Churches. At the end, the Committee reflected on the course of the dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Churches and expressed the common desire for the dialogue to be continued in the spirit of mutual understanding and respect, which is being gradually cultivated between the two Churches.