St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary - Press Releases Press Release 2004 Eastern-Oriental Symposium takes place

Crestwood, NY — St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary and St Nersess Armenian Orthodox Seminary co-sponsored an all-day Eastern-Oriental Symposium on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 on campus at SVS. The two seminaries have been co-hosting these symposia on a more or less annual basis for the past decade, their purpose being to bring together persons from the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches for mutual learning and discussion. This year's symposium, themed "Saints and Sanctity: shared witness, shared vocation" featured speakers from the faculties of both seminaries, as well as scholars and churchmen from outside.

The two church families represented at the symposium have been out of communion since the fifth century. During recent decades a fruitful bilateral dialogue has brought these long-estranged church families into closer relationship, and has awakened hopes for reunion.

A developing snowstorm affected the numbers in attendance, but did not deter around 50 participants from engaging in the full-day symposium. The overall theme of saints and sanctity prompted the day's speakers to reflect on such issues as the nature of the "communion of the saints," the ways in which the lives of the saints (and the icons of the saints) can most constructively be read today, and the effect of saints' lives and sanctity upon Eastern-Oriental church relations. A list of speakers and a timetable for the day's proceedings are available on the SVS website.