Address at Notre-Dame Cathedral, June 5
Article summary proposed by the Contacts review with LLM assistance
This article reproduces the address delivered on June 5, 1983 by Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, during a meeting with Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger. The text takes the form of a solemn speech addressed to a French Catholic audience. The Patriarch sets out the ecumenical position of the Patriarchate of Antioch by articulating two complementary voices: that of the head of a non-Greek, non-Slavic Orthodox Church, heir to a Syro-Palestinian biblical and liturgical tradition, and that of a Christian Arab engaged in the realities of the contemporary Middle East. The principal theological contribution lies in the reformulation of the conditions for Catholic-Orthodox reconciliation, grounded not in prior doctrinal adjustments, but in the restoration of a communion in love, drawing on the common heritage of the seven ecumenical councils, and in a conception of the Roman primacy as fraternal service rather than juridical power.
This article has not been translated yet — it is available in its French version here.
The rest of this article is reserved for subscribers of the Contacts review.
Subscribe to read more
Digital subscription · Immediate access to the Contacts library