Orientale Lumen Europe West I, Birmingham UK, December 2002

Here is the link to OL Europe West I - Kenosis and Koinonia: What Price Unity?

The principal contributions were:

• Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, Ecumenical Patriarchate
  
• Archimandrite Serge Kelleher, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch
• Edward Cardinal Cassidy, Pontifical Council for Christian Unity
• Professor David Melling, Professor of Classics, University of Manchester
  
• Archimandrite Ephrem Lash, Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain
• Dom Michael van Parys, former Abbot of Chevetogne, Oriental Congregation, Rome
  

East-West Monastic Meeting IV, Minster Abbey, Autumn 2002

The Fourth East-West Monastic Meeting arranged by the Benedictine nuns at Minster Abbey to take forward the ecumenical initiative of Pope John Paul II outlined in his Letter, Orientale Lumen, took place in autumn 2002 at Minster.

The principal addresses were:

• The Ethiopian Church and its Monastic Tradition, Fr Colin Battell OSB, Ampleforth Abbey
• The Monastery of St Anthony in Egypt, Fr Angaelos Alantony, Coptic Orthodox Church
• Ecumenical Relations in Aleppo, Syria, Archbishop Paul Yazigi, Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch

An open day for outside participants took the theme, Mary, the Mother of God: East and West. The principal addresses on this theme were:

• Mary, Mother of God in the Orthodox Tradition, Mother Sarah, Orthodox Community of St John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights
• Mary, Mother of God in the Anglican Tradition, Mother Mary John OSB, Abbess of Malling
• Mary, Mother of God in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tradition, Fr Colin Battell OSB, Ampleforth Abbey
• Mary, Mother of God in the Roman Catholic Tradition, Dr Greta McHugh, Franciscan Study Centre, Canterbury Kent.

40 guests also attended a Dialogue Day within the Meeting as a whole, to hear of specific progress on some of the current dialogues between traditions. Contributions included:

• Pro Oriente Dialogue between the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Youhanna Ibrahim
• The involvement of the Catholic Bishops' Conference in England and Wales in Ecumenical Dialogue, Mgr Bernard Longley, General Secretary
• Orthodox Engagement in Ecumenical Dialogue and Contacts, Fr Stephen Platt (Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh) and Fr Alexander Haig (Patriarchate of Antioch)
  

The papers from the Meeting were privately published by Minster Abbey and are available from Sister Benedict Gaughan OSB, Minster Abbey, Minster, Ramsgate, Kent CT12 4HF.

A short account of the Meeting was subsequently given by Sister Benedict Gaughan OSB in One in Christ, volume 40, no. 3, April 2005.

Orientale Lumen VI, June 2002, Washington DC

Here is the link to OL VI, Eastern Catholic Churches: Window between East and West?

The published proceedings can be ordered from Eastern Christian Publications here.

Orthodox Lenten Great Vespers in Westminster Cathedral

The picture shows a more recent event in Westminster Cathedral arranged by the diocese and the Society in 2002: Lenten Orthodox Great Vespers, celebrated by Bishop Basil (Osborne) of Sergievo of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh in the UK, in the presence of HE Cormac Cardinal Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster and his fellow Latin Catholic Bishops, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Bishop, His Eminence Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain, the Syriac Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Bishops in London and other hierarchs, clergy and faithful of the Eastern Churches, with many Latin Catholic and other Western Christians too.

The choir of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in Mayfair sang the Vespers and the service was attended by almost 1,500 people.

After Vespers, the Society hosted a reception for the distinguished clergy and visitors, and the Choir.