Anglican and Oriental Orthodox theologians have signed a historic agreement on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
The statement on 'The Procession and Work of the Holy Spirit' was signed in Dublin at the close of discussions by the Anglican-Oriental Orthodox International Commission. It concludes two years of work on the subject, according to ACNS.
The 'agreed statement' represents the final text of an agreement reached in 2015 at a meeting in Wales. Significantly, that meeting agreed on a key point of dispute between Eastern and Western Church traditions, the 'filioque' clause added to the Nicene Creed. The controversy dates back to the 7th century, when Eastern theologians objected to the statement the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father 'and the Son' ('filioque'). Anglicans inherited this reading from the Roman Catholic Church.
The agreement states: 'We recognise that the original text of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 does not include the clause referring to the procession of the Holy Spirit, as from the Father and the Son (Filioque), but only from the Father. We acknowledge that the insertion of this clause was done unilaterally by the Church in the Latin West, without the authority of an Ecumenical Council, and inherited by the Anglican Tradition.'
Anglican Churches, it says, 'generally interpret this addition in the sense of the temporal mission of the Holy Spirit who is sent from the Father, through the Son and by the Son, to the world'.
However, 'Following the Moscow Agreed Statement of 1976, Anglicans agree that "The Filioque clause should not be included in this Creed."'
The statement was signed by the co-chairs, the Church in Wales' Bishop of St Asaph, Gregory Cameron, and the Coptic Orthodox Church's Metropolitan Bishoy of Damiette, at Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral.
It concludes: 'In a world of enforced displacement and fearful arrival; in a world of accelerated movement; in a world of war-torn fragmentation and courageous martyrdom; the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, transcends time and space and yet inhabits both. The same Spirit is sent to commission and empower the weak to be strong, the humble to be courageous, and the poor to be comforted and blessed in a fallen world that is upheld by the providence and grace of God the Trinity who makes all things new in faith and hope and love.'
As well as the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, members of the commission discussed the conflict and terrorism that impacts many of the countries where the Oriental Orthodox Churches are present, including Egypt, Syria and Ethiopia.
Prayers were said for two prelates kidnapped in Aleppo in 2013 and still missing, Metropolitan Mor Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim, of the Syriac Orthodox Church, and Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi, of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.
'These tragedies have made their way into our theology and into our prayer,' said the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Michael Jackson. 'These atrocities have framed our discourse and our compassion. These human and civic devastations have helped to give a contemporary urgency and tragic vibrancy to our reflections.'
