The dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox put to the test

This article by the Dominican Hervé Legrand analyzes the crisis affecting Catholic-Orthodox dialogue in the early 2000s, taking as its starting point the breakdown of official relations between Rome and the Patriarchate of Moscow following the creation of a Latin ecclesiastical province in Russia. Drawing on ecclesiological and ecumenical study, the article first retraces the achievements of the dialogue, notably the Balamand Declaration (1993), before examining its obstacles. The central idea is that the crisis is explained less by ill will on the part of the parties than by a structural asymmetry in their modes of communication and decision-making, as well as by deep semantic divergences around notions such as "canonical territory," "proselytism," and "mutual information." The theological contribution lies in the demonstration that the ecclesiology of sister Churches, shared in principle, remains inoperative in the absence of coherent institutional reception on both sides.