St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary - Events

Eastern-Oriental Orthodox Symposium
A Report

• original press release
• announcement
• program of events
• participant biographies

On April 1, 2003 St Vladimir's Seminary and St Nersess Armenian Seminary co-sponsored a symposium entitled Jerusalem: Does it Divide or Unite? The main stated purpose of the gathering was to explore, through a series of lectures and discussions, the ways in which the Holy City has served both as a common source of apostolic authority and spiritual nourishment, as well as a point where divisions among the churches and church families are made so clearly evident.

The symposium brought together a collection of eminent scholars and experts all with a close and living familiarity with the city of Jerusalem and its complex historical and modern-day situation. Yet the wider context of the symposium was the intention of exploring, together and in common, issues of mutual concern to the two church families -- the "Eastern" or "Chalcedonian" Orthodox churches and the "Oriental" or "non-Chalcedonian" Orthodox churches, families out of communion with each other since the fifth century.

As Paul Meyendorff, Academic Dean of St Vladimir's, pointed out in his words of welcome, the theological agreements evidenced by the late 20th century dialogue process are only a part of what would eventually reunite the two families. Union depends not only on the official agreements but on a shared life, of which one of the expressions is the annual symposia that our two seminaries have been co-sponsoring now for several years.

Fr Daniel Findykian, Dean of St Nersess, agreed, noting also with joy that over the years more than two dozen students of St Nersess have studied and received their degree also at St Vladimir's Seminary. The symposia that our seminaries have been co-hosting are greeted in some quarters of the Orthodox world with joy and hope, and in other circles with fear and suspicion. Fr Daniel noted that both kinds of reaction are natural and to be expected, and he hoped that they testify to something of a prophetic quality to the kind of work the two seminaries are doing.

The Symposium began and ended in prayer: a short morning prayer was read by Bishop David of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and at the close of the proceedings the presenters and participants (numbering around 60 persons) went to the Three Hierarchs Chapel on the seminary campus for vespers.

The day's presentations and discussion raised more questions than they answered. Without exception, all speakers attempted to do justice both to the "holy geography" of Jerusalem, its role as a focal point of so much history and spiritual legacy for Christians -- not to mention Jews and Muslims -- as well as its being the site of vicious and unedifying territorial battles between the churches. The symposium did not lead to conclusive or comforting impressions of what the city means -- to its residents, its pilgrims, and to us outside it.

Yet the symposium raised vital questions regarding such diverse and important issues as

• the relation of the earthly Jerusalem to the heavenly Jerusalem,
• the way in which the relationships between the churches in Jerusalem are vital for an understanding of the relationships between the same churches elsewhere.
• Jerusalem as a true representation of religion, and all of the repercussions that arise from it
• The demographics of the city and the crisis of the dwindling Christian population

All in attendance were left with a sense of the importance of prayers, concern, and raising consciousness about the predicament of city of Jerusalem.