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The Balamand Agreement, also known as the Balamand Statement, was a short document issued by the

June 17-24, 1993 - Balamand, Lebanon "Uniatism: Method of the Past; Dialogue as Today's Means of Seeking Unity;" REPORT: "Uniatism, Method of Union of the Past, and the Present Search for Full Communion" (1993) (The Balamand Statement)

1) Uniatism as a way of achieving unity between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches is wrong and should be abandoned;

2) The existing Eastern Catholic Churches have a right to continue to exist and to pastorally serve their members;

3) The Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches in a special — though not fully defined — way remain "sister Churches" so that the goal of achieving unity between them does not mean the conversion of one

For the past fifteen years, the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church have been discussing on the international level how to overcome their almost one thousand year division. The most recent statement to come out of their dialogue, the Balamand Statement, has created controversy on both sides. Some understand it as an important step forward toward overcoming the division between them, while others of both Churches have raised the alarm, seeing it as a dangerous development.

An international joint commission, established officially by the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, has been meeting since 1980 to discuss possible ways of overcoming the division between them.

One of the biggest problems between the two Churches has been the existence for about 400 years of Churches under the Pope of Rome who originally were Eastern Orthodox. The Orthodox have referred to these Churches as Uniate Churches and the Roman Catholic Church calls them Eastern Catholic Churches. In some places they are also known as Greek Catholic Churches. These Churches exist in varying numbers in Ukraine, Romania, Russia, and other Central and Eastern European countries, the Middle East, and the United States. In their worship and practice of Christianity they are like the Orthodox. In their way of Church order and governance, they are members of the Roman Catholic Church.

For many centuries, the Roman Catholic Church thought of these Churches as the way the two Churches might be reunited. The Orthodox Churches, in contrast, held that the Uniate Churches not only could not serve as a unifying link, but remained as serious obstacle to any progress in working toward unity.

Practical and theological disputes based on this new situation halted the dialogue between the Churches on other matters until the Uniate/Eastern Catholic situation could be addressed by the international commission. These discussions produced a joint statement known as the Balamand Document. It was issued in June of 1993 with the title "Uniatism, Method of Union of the Past and the Present Search for Full Communion." It was the result of meetings held in Freising, Germany (1990) and Arriccia, Italy (1991). Balamand is an Orthodox Monastery and Seminary in Lebanon.

What does Balamand call for, practically? The American Response summarized the practical implications of this new understanding of the Eastern Rite Churches:

reciprocal exchanges of information about various pastoral projects; avoidance of those forms of philanthropic activity that might be construed as attempts to buy new adherents to the detriment of the other church; open dialogue at the local level; avoidance of all forms of violence; mutual respect for each other's places of worship and even sharing of facilities when circumstances require; respect for the spiritual life and sacramental discipline of the other church; consultation before the establishment of new pastoral projects which might unnecessarily parallel or even undermine those of the other church in the same territory; dissipation of inherited prejudicial readings of the historical record, especially in the preparation of future priests; resolving differences through fraternal dialogue, thus avoiding recourse to the civil authorities or to merely legal principles when seeking solutions to property disputes or other pressing practical problems; objectivity in the presentation of events and issues in the mass media. What was the most important recommendation of the Balamand Statement? The development of "a will to pardon." Both sides have complaints against the other. The Response says: "We are all aware that the history of relations between our two churches often has been a tragic one, filled with persecutions and sufferings, but we must not remain prisoners of this past ... the energies of our churches must be directed toward assuring that "the present and the future conform better to the will of Christ for his own." As for "whatever may have been the past, it must be left to the mercy of God."

Orthodox Christianity has not reached a consensus on the Balamand statement, in part because not all of the world's Orthodox Churches participated in the gathering, and in part because controversy has risen over the "sister church" or "two lung" theory. While there are some Orthodox who would perhaps ascribe to these notions, it is my understanding that Orthodoxy is the Church, not half or part of it.

Links

 * Balamand Explained
 * Full text of the Balamand Agreement
 * Full Text of the document
 * Catholic Criticism
 * Ratzinger's latest: Don't call us `sister church'
 * Uzhorod, Balamand, and beyond : A uniate looks to the millennium. Journal of ecumenical studies (J. ecum. stud.)  ISSN 0022-0558
 * THE JOINT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE THEOLOGICAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
 * SSPX Criticism