- Feb 5, 2002
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Catholic clergy from Egypt have warned that ties with Orthodox and Islamic leaders are being derailed by a Vatican decision to allow the blessing of same-sex couples, after the country’s influential Coptic Orthodox Church suspended dialogue over the issue.
“The pope and Vatican misjudged the timing of their declaration last December — it was widely seen as unprepared and awkwardly managed, just to satisfy churches in the West,” said Father Rafic Greiche, editor of Egypt’s Catholic Hamil al-Risalah weekly and former spokesman of the Catholic Coptic Church.
“While there was no consideration of the Islamic world, the document was a propaganda gift to Orthodox churches, whose bishops and priests are now insisting only Orthodox traditions are truly righteous,” he said.
The Cairo-based priest was reacting to a March 7 decision by the governing Holy Synod of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, the Middle East’s largest Christian denomination, to halt theological dialogue with Catholics over the Vatican’s Dec. 18 declaration, “Fiducia Supplicans.”
In an OSV News interview, he said the synod’s move to suspend rather than break off dialogue offered hope ties could eventually be resumed.
However, he added that his own Catholic Church also had notified Pope Francis of its refusal to accept same-sex blessings, and said other historic churches in the Middle East and Africa had also rejected the declaration in the first such act of open defiance.
Meanwhile, another prominent Catholic priest said “Fiducia Supplicans” had come at a “hard time” for interchurch and interfaith relations, and was viewed by Eastern Christians as “severely harmful to the faith.”
Continued below.
catholicreview.org
“The pope and Vatican misjudged the timing of their declaration last December — it was widely seen as unprepared and awkwardly managed, just to satisfy churches in the West,” said Father Rafic Greiche, editor of Egypt’s Catholic Hamil al-Risalah weekly and former spokesman of the Catholic Coptic Church.
“While there was no consideration of the Islamic world, the document was a propaganda gift to Orthodox churches, whose bishops and priests are now insisting only Orthodox traditions are truly righteous,” he said.
The Cairo-based priest was reacting to a March 7 decision by the governing Holy Synod of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, the Middle East’s largest Christian denomination, to halt theological dialogue with Catholics over the Vatican’s Dec. 18 declaration, “Fiducia Supplicans.”
In an OSV News interview, he said the synod’s move to suspend rather than break off dialogue offered hope ties could eventually be resumed.
However, he added that his own Catholic Church also had notified Pope Francis of its refusal to accept same-sex blessings, and said other historic churches in the Middle East and Africa had also rejected the declaration in the first such act of open defiance.
Meanwhile, another prominent Catholic priest said “Fiducia Supplicans” had come at a “hard time” for interchurch and interfaith relations, and was viewed by Eastern Christians as “severely harmful to the faith.”
Continued below.
Egyptian Catholic clergy say interreligious ties are being derailed by 'Fiducia' - Catholic Review
Catholic clergy from Egypt have warned that ties with Orthodox and Islamic leaders are being derailed by a Vatican decision to allow the blessing of same-sex couples, after the country's influential Coptic Orthodox Church suspended dialogue over the issue.
catholicreview.org
