On Monday, November 20, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I took part in an inter-church dialogue at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, New York. Participants in the meeting organized at the joint initiative of the Seminary and the National Council of Churches of the United States included clergy and lecturers who have been involved in the activities of both the NCC and the World Council of Churches.
As a key player in the ecumenical sphere, His Holiness had been invited to share his thoughts.
His Holiness summed up the five challenges faced by the ecumenical movement, including a shift from an individual-centered movement toward a church-centered one; the concerns of the Orthodox churches regarding the ecumenical movement towards secularization; the retreat of multilateral cooperation in favor of bilateral cooperation; the dominant presence of theological dialogue in the ecumenic movement, and the marginalization of church unity before the growing presence of social and ethical issues. After elaborating on the above subjects, he answered questions from the audience
