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---
title: Letter from Rome on Zoghby Proposal
date: 1997-06-11
author: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
source: https://orthocath.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/1997_letter_from_rome_on_zoghby_initiative-11.pdf
---
**Congregation for the Eastern Churches Prot. No. 251/75**
**June 11, 1997**
**His Beatitude Maximos V HAKIM**
**Greek-Melkite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and of all the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem**
Your Beatitude,
Word of the project for a rapprochement between the Greek-Melkite Catholic Patriarchate and
the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch has been widely noted and given rise to much public
discussion.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, and
the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity have striven to familiarize themselves and examine
with care those aspects that lie within their respective competence; the heads of these Dicasteries
have further been charged by the Holy Father to share some observations with Your Beatitude.
The Holy See follows with great interest and wishes to encourage initiatives that could ease the
way to a complete reconciliation of the Christian Churches. It recognizes the imperatives behind
the decades-long effort of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Patriarchate aimed at promoting the
realization of this sought-for fullness of communion. The Code of Canon Law for the Eastern
Churches recognizes in this a duty for every Christian (Can. 902), that becomes for the Eastern
Catholic Churches a special munus (Can. 903), to be pursued according to "*normis specialibus*
*iuris particularis moderante eundem motum Sede Apostolica Romana pro universa Ecclesia*"
["by the special norms of particular law, the Apostolic Roman See directing the movement for
the entire Church"] (Can. 904).
This is all the more valid for two communities that see themselves as especially tied to one
another from their common origin and shared ecclesial tradition, as well as through a long
experience of joint initiatives, placing them without a doubt in a privileged state of closeness.
It is the wish of the Church that appropriate ways and means be found to proceed in future along
the path of fraternal agreement, and through the assistance of new forms that would allow the
further realization of progress towards full communion.
Your Patriarchate, in pursuing such goals, is spurred by the sensitivity, the situational
understanding, and the experience that are uniquely its own. The Holy See intends to aid this
process through the formulation of a few observations that it believes could contribute to a future
furthering of the initiative.
The responsible Dicasteries broadly welcome joint pastoral initiatives between Catholics and
Orthodox, undertaken as proposed in the Directory for the Application of the Principles and
Norms on Ecumenism, most particularly in the fields of Christian formation, education, common
charitable endeavours, and shared prayer when this is possible.
Specifically with respect to theological heritage, one must proceed with patience and prudence,
and without precipitation, in order to assist both parties in following a shared path.
A first dimension of this sharing concerns the language and categories used in the dialogue: one
has to apply the greatest care that the common use of a word, or of a concept, not lend itself to
differing points of view or interpretations of a historical or doctrinal nature, nor to any form of
over simplification.
A second dimension necessitates that the sharing of the contents of the dialogue not be limited
solely to the two direct interlocutors, the Greek-Melkite Catholic and Orthodox Antiochian
Patriarchates, but that it should also implicate the wider Confessions with which the two
Patriarchates are in full communion: the Catholic Communion for the former, and the Orthodox
Communion for the latter. The Orthodox ecclesiastical authorities in the Patriarchate of Antioch
have, in any case, highlighted analogous concerns. This more comprehensive participation would
also help ensure that initiatives aimed at promoting full communion at the local level do not give
rise to misunderstandings or suspicions, even with the best of intentions.
Let us now turn to the terms of the profession of faith of his Excellence Mgr. Elias Zoghby,
Greek-Melkite Catholic Archbishop emeritus of Baalbeck, signed in February 1995, and to
which many prelates of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Synod have subscribed.
It is evident that this Patriarchate forms an integral part of the Christian East whose patrimony it
shares. With respect to the declaration on the part of Greek-Melkite Catholics of complete
adherence to the teachings of Eastern Orthodoxy, one must keep in mind the fact that the
Orthodox Churches are today not yet in full communion with the Church of Rome, and that this
adherence is thus not possible so long as there is not from both sides an identity of professed and
practiced faith. Furthermore, a correct formulation of the faith requires reference not only to a
particular Church, but to the whole of the Church of Christ that is limited in neither space nor
time.
With respect to communion with the Bishops of Rome, one must not forget that doctrine relating
to the primacy of the Roman Pontiff has been the subject of some development within the
elaboration of the Church's faith through the ages, and that it must thus be upheld in its entirety
from its origins all the way to the present day. One need only reflect on what the First Vatican
Council affirms and on what has been declared at the Second Vatican Council, particularly in
NN. 22 and 23 of the Dogmatic Constitution *Lumen Gentium* and in N. 2 of the Decree on
Ecumenism *Unitatis Redintegratio*.
As to the ways in which the Petrine ministry could be exercised today, an issue distinct from that
of doctrine, it is true that the Holy Father has recently reminded us all how it is possible to
"seek—together, of course—the forms in which this ministry may accomplish a service of love
recognized by all concerned" (*Ut unum sint*, 95): but while it is also legitimate to approach the
issue at the local level, there is a duty to do so always in communion with a view to the universal
Church. In this regard, it would in any case be appropriate to recall that "the Catholic Church,
both in her *praxis* and in her solemn documents, holds that the communion of the particular
Churches with the Church of Rome, and of their Bishops with the Bishop of Rome, is—in God's
plan—an essential requisite of full and visible communion" (*Ut unum sint*, 97).
As to the various aspects of *communio in sacris*, an ongoing dialogue will have to be maintained
in order to explore the rationale underlying the respective norms currently in effect, and this in
light of the theological assumptions that underlie them; in this way premature unilateral
initiatives or eventual outcomes that would not have pondered sufficiently might be avoided:
these could lead to significant negative consequences, including with respect to other Eastern
Catholics, most especially to those living within the same region.
All in all, the fraternal dialogue pursued by the Greek-Melkite Patriarchate will contribute all the
more to the path of ecumenism insofar as it strives to include in the development of new
sensibilities the whole Catholic Church to which it belongs. There is a good basis for believing
that Orthodoxy also shares this concern, and this largely also in consideration of the
requirements for communion within its own body.
The Dicasteries concerned are ready to offer their collaboration in furthering this exchange of
reflections and clarifications; they further express their satisfaction with the meetings held so far
on this subject with representatives of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church, and both hope and
wish to see these exchanges maintained and deepened in future.
Fully recognizing that Your Beatitude will wish to share these reflections, please accept the
expression of our fraternal and cordial regards.
Joseph Card. Ratzinger
Achille Card. Silvestrini
Edward Card. Cassidy

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* North American Consultation — [Conciliarity and Primacy](./naoctc-1989-primacy.html)
* Joint International Dialogue — [Balamand document](./jictd-1993-balamand.html)
* North American Consultation — [Response to Balamand](./naoctc-1994-balamand.html)
* Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — [Response to the Zoghby Proposal](./cdf-1997-zoghby.md)
## 2000s