10 – 19 November 2015. Archbishop Nareg Alemezian, Pontifical Vicar of Cyprus of the Holy See of Cilicia and member of the Executive Committee of the WCC, attended the meeting at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey near Geneva. Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Holy See of St. Etchmiadzin was also present as Moderator of a committee of the Central Committee. After hearing the message of the Moderator, Dr Agnes Abuom, and the report of the General Secretary, the members of the Executive Committee decided on programmes, finances and staffing, in view of making the WCC responsive to current challenges.
On Sunday, 15 November, the members of the Executive Committee attended Church service at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Geneva where special prayers were read to Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Pro Oriente dialogue Committee between the Roman Catholic and Oriental Orthodox Churches plans to resume dialogue
10-11 November 2015. Representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches met in Vienna to review the work of the Pro Oriente Dialogue Committee, created in 1971, and the extent to which the recommendations of Vatican II calling for Christian Unity have been implemented. Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian represented the Holy See of Cilicia and Bishop Armash Nalbandian represented the Holy See of Etchmiadzin.
The President of Pro Oriente, Dr Johann Marte, welcomed the participants and expressed the hope that after a pause, the newly constituted Catholic Church – Oriental Orthodox Churches International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue will advance the dialogue to promote Christian Unity. Prof Dietmar W. Winkler then presented a brief history and achievements of the Commission since 1971. In view of the two presentations and the following discussions among the participants on relations between the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church, since the end of formal dialogues, the representatives proposed an agenda for the first meeting of the new period, to be held from 28 November to 1 December 2016 in Vienna.
On Tuesday, 10 November, the representatives attended ecumenical prayers at St Gabriel Coptic Orthodox Church, where special prayers were made for the Turkish genocide of Armenians 100 years ago.
