We offer glory and thanks to God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Trinity one in essence and undivided - for this blessed opportunity to warmly welcome all of you once again to our historic city of Constantinople. This is the spiritual center of an age and region which served as home to all of the early Great and Ecumenical Councils of the undivided Christian Church in the first millennium.

We recognize the presence of many eminent speakers, hierarchs and academics, including clergy, monastics, and laity - and we thank them in advance for their esteemed attendance and invaluable contribution. In this regard, we also express our appreciation to Mr. Jack Figel for organizing this third meeting of Orientale Lumen in Istanbul. As all of our forefathers of the Great Councils of the Church experienced, we too can repeat: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to dwell together.” (Psalm 132:1)

We have followed the deliberations of your international land local gatherings since they began in Washington DC in 1997. From the outset, these conferences have expressed a special appreciation for the “Light of the East,” exploring the rich spiritual and theological heritage of the Orthodox Church in the spirit of the Apostolic Letter, Orientale Lumen, by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. This inheritance can also guide us in healing the wounds of our Christian divisions. For, over many years, such Conferences have provided a valuable opportunity for members of the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church to meet together, pray together, and study together. It is to this healing of divisions and unity of mind that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been dedicated through the centuries but most especially over the last century.

1. In many ways, this journey toward visible and sacramental unity namely, our dedicated and continual response to the Lord’s command that, as His disciples, we “may all be one” (John 17:21) is one of the most important elements of the Church’s conciliar nature. Thus, the Councils of our Church are precisely a commitment to Christian unity. They articulate the necessary critical steps for overcoming political and doctrinal division, or ecclesiastical and theological estrangement. They formulate fundamental guidelines for the definition of community boundaries and evasion of general pitfalls. The Councils are, first and foremost, gatherings of unity and assemblies of communion. They are, therefore, essentially liturgical occasions for leaders of the Church to “love one another so that with one mind [they] may confess Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” as we chant each Sunday in the Divine Liturgy of our venerable predecessor on the Throne of Constantinople, St. John Chrysostom.

2. If conciliar gatherings are primarily assemblies of unity and communion, they are also gatherings of the Spirit or charismatic meetings. They are essentially Pentecostal events, where deliberation and discussion - indeed, even difference and divergence result in “avoiding all schisms”(I Corinthians 1:10) and resolve in “maintaining unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:6) It is only when we are gathered together in Openness and fellowship, when we dialogue in love and truth, that we can be sure that the Paraclete is guiding our steps in the way of the Lord. It is only when we can sincerely and humbly surrender individual arrogance or institutional pride that we can be assured of discerning the way of the Spirit.

It is, as the early monastics of the Egyptian desert liked to say, only when we “give blood that we may receive the Spirit.” (Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Abba Longinus) It is when the Apostles of Christ gathered together to deliberate candidly on the common problems that they encountered as the early Christian community that they were able confidently to claim that the Holy Spirit was speaking to them, in them, and through them. In the inspired words of the Apostolic Council, but also the opening phrase of every Ecumenical Council through the ages: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us …” (Acts15.28)

3. Finally, if conciliar gatherings are liturgical and Pentecostal events, they are also timely gatherings and contemporary meetings, mandated by the historical circumstances and current conditions of the Church in a particular age and place. It is important to remember that councils or synods whether the Apostolic Synod in the early Church or the Great Councils through the centuries have always convened in response to specific needs and problems, as a result of distinct predicaments and challenges. In this regard, in October 2008, during the 5th Synaxis of the Heads of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches throughout the world, we affirmed our obligation and commitment to advance the preparations for the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, already commenced through Pan-Orthodox Pre-Conciliar Consultations. Moreover, we emphasized the importance of activating the 1993 agreement of the Inter-Orthodox Consultation of the Holy and Great Council in order to resolve the pending matter of the Orthodox Diaspora. Consequently, at the initiative and invitation of the Mother Church of Constantinople, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, representatives of the local Orthodox Churches have unanimously attended - since the First Pan-Orthodox Conference held in 1961 in Rhodes - several meetings, most recently the 4th Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference held in 2009 in Chambesy. Thereafter, a number of Episcopal Assemblies have met throughout the Orthodox world in preparation for the Holy and Great Council, which we fervently pray will soon be convened for the glory of God and the edification of His people in order that we may speak “with one voice and one heart” to the contemporary world, which “always asks us to be accountable for the hope that is in us, with gentleness and reverence.” (I Peter 3:15)

With these modest observations about the conciliar nature of our Church - that is to say, the understanding of councils as gatherings of unity, as assemblies of the Spirit, and as crucial responses to contemporary demands we convey upon all of you our Patriarchal wishes and paternal prayers for a successful conference in this city, where so much of the conciliar activity of the Orthodox Church occurred over the span of a thousand years.”

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

In order to provide some background material for the Orientale Lumen Conferences in 2010, with the help of Father Michael Hayduk, I prepared a summary of the first Seven Ecumenical Councils that I post here.

SITE: Nicaea
YEAR: A.D. 787
POPE: Hadrian I, 772 - 795
EMPERORS: Constantine VI, 780 - 797 and Empress Irene (797 - 802)
ACTION: This council, called by Empress Irene (widow of Emperor Leo IV and regent for her son Constantine VI), with its doctrinal decree ratified by Pope Hadrian I, condemned ICONOCLASM. The Pope’s epistle here, just as with Pope St.Leo I at Chalcedon, set the tone of the council.
NOTE: Brewing beneath the surface at this time, however, was a rejection of papal authority. The Eastern Bishops, cut off from Rome and receptive to heresy under persecution, were held suspect by Rome.
NOTE: Iconoclasm had been fostered by Emperor Leo III (717 - 741), who was opposed by Popes Gregory II (715 - 731) and Gregory III (731 - 741) and by St. John Damascene (d.749), priest and Doctor of the Church, who published three discourses in defense of images.
HERESY: ICONOCLASM.

The Second Council of Nicaea was convoked by Emperor Constantine VI and his mother Irene, under Pope Adrian I, and was presided over by the legates of Pope Adrian; it regulated the veneration of holy images. Between 300 and 367 bishops assisted.

In order to provide some background material for the Orientale Lumen Conferences in 2010, with the help of Father Michael Hayduk, I prepared a summary of the first Seven Ecumenical Councils that I post here.

SITE: Constantinople
YEARS: A.D. 680 - 681
POPES: St. Agatho, 678 - 681, and St. Leo II, 682 - 683
EMPEROR: Constantine IV, 668 - 685
ACTION: Called by Emperor Constantine IV, and its calling authorized by Pope St. Agatho, this council condemned the heresy of the Monothelites (Mono-one thelema-will), which attributed only one will, to Christ (the divine), instead of two wills (divine and human), which two are in perfect accord within the one divine person, Jesus. Constantinople III also reconfirmed Chalcedon. Pope St. Leo II, 682 - 683, approved the decrees of Constantinople III, Pope St. Agatho having died (Jan. 10) before the council’s end.
NOTE: Pope St. Leo II also condemned Pope Honorius I (625 - 638) for negligence of duty in the face of heresy, in that he should have ascertained that Sergius was teaching not a mere harmony (oneness) of wills in Christ but literally one will in Christ, the divine will. Honorius had not spoken ex cathedra, so infallibility had not been involved.
HERESY/HERESIARCH: MONOTHELITISM originated by SERGIUS (patriarch of Constantinople, 610 A.D.).

The Third General Council of Constantinople, under Pope Agatho and the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus, was attended by the Patriarchs of Constantinople and of Antioch, 174 bishops, and the emperor. It put an end to Monothelitism by defining two wills in Christ, the Divine and the human, as two distinct principles of operation. It anathematized Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, Macarius, and all their followers.

In order to provide some background material for the Orientale Lumen Conferences in 2010, with the help of Father Michael Hayduk, I prepared a summary of the first Seven Ecumenical Councils that I post here.

SITE: Constantinople
YEAR: A.D. 553
POPE: Vigilius, 537 - 555
EMPEROR: Justinian I, 527 - 565
ACTION: Effectively called by Justinian I and eventually ratified by Pope Vigilius, Constantinople II condemned a collection of statements known as the “Three Chapters”: 1) the person and the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Master of Nestorius, originator of that heresy; 2) the writings of Theodoret of Cyrrhus; 3) the writings of Ibas of Edessa. The last two friends of Nestorius had been restored to their sees by Chalcedon when they no longer opposed the teachings of St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444) and of Ephesus. Chalcedon was not discredited here (as the Monophysites had hoped) since it had been concerned with men. Constantinople II was concerned with their writings, although a hundred years after they had died.
NOTE: Two important local councils condemning heresies: Carthage (416) solemnly approved by Pope Innocent II, (401 - 417), and then in 418 by Pope Zosimus (417 - 418), condemned Pelagianism (Pelagius, a British Monk), which heresy denied original sin calling it only “bad example.” Orange (429) France, solemnly approved by Pope Boniface II (530 - 532), condemned Semi-Pelagianism (an over-reaction to St. Augustine on grace), which claimed man needed grace only after his first supernatural act. St. Augustine made it clear that God’s grace is first.
NOTE: Council referred much to St. Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church (d. 444).
HERESIARCH: THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA (”3 Chapters”).

The Second General Council of Constantinople, of 165 bishops under Pope Vigilius and Emperor Justinian I, condemned the errors of Origen and certain writings (The Three Chapters) of Theodoret, of Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia and of Ibas, Bishop of Edessa; it further confirmed the first four general councils, especially that of Chalcedon whose authority was contested by some heretics.

In order to provide some background material for the Orientale Lumen Conferences in 2010, with the help of Father Michael Hayduk, I prepared a summary of the first Seven Ecumenical Councils that I post here.

SITE: Chalcedon, (north of Constatinople)
YEAR: A.D. 451
POPE: St. Leo I, the Great, 440 - 461
EMPEROR: Marcian, 450 - 457
ACTION: Called by Emperor Marcian, spouse of the chaste and noble St. Pulcheria, and ratified by Pope St. Leo the Great, the council condemned the heresy of the Abbot Eutyches, MONOPHYSITISM, which claimed that there existed only “one nature” (the divine) in Christ from the Incarnation onward. Though the council had approved the assertion that Constantinople should be ranked first after Rome ecclesiastically, Pope St. Leo did not. The primacy of the See of Rome was due to it’s possession of the Chair of Peter, not to any political power. In his “Dogmatic Epistle,” read by his legates at the end of the second session of the council (Oct. 10, 451), Pope St. Leo I also declared invalid all that had been done at the “Robber Synod of Ephesus” (a false Ephesus II): ” ….we see no Council, but a den of thieves (Latrocinium).” In the greatest testimony of the Eastern Council to the primacy of the Pope, the bishops cried out: “Behold the faith of the fathers, the faith of the Apostles; thus through Leo has Peter spoken!” Eutyches was excommunicated.
NOTE: Pope St. Leo I, Doctor of the Church (d. 461), was called the “Soul” of Chalcedon.
HERESIARCH / HERETICS: EUTYCHES - MONOPHYSITES.

The Council of Chalcedon — 150 bishops under Pope Leo the Great and the Emperor Marcian — defined the two natures (Divine and human) in Christ against Eutyches, who was excommunicated.

In order to provide some background material for the Orientale Lumen Conferences in 2010, with the help of Father Michael Hayduk, I prepared a summary of the first Seven Ecumenical Councils that I post here.

SITE: Ephesus (S. of Smyrna in SW Asia Minor).
YEAR: A.D. 431
POPE: St. Celestine I, 423 - 432
EMPEROR: Theodosius II, 408 - 450
ACTION: Called by the Eastern Emperor, Theodosius II, influenced by his pious sister, St. Pulcheria (Emperor in the West was Valentinian III, 425 - 455), and ratified by Pope Celestine I, this council condemned the heresy of Nestorius by clearly defining the Divine maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There are two natures in Christ (Divine and Human), but only one Person (Divine). Mary is the Mother of this one Divine Person, the eternal Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Nestorius was deposed as bishop of Constantinople. This council also briefly affirmed the condemnation of the Pelagians (see local Council of Carthage, A.D. 416).
NOTE: St. Cyril of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church (d.444), was the bishop presiding.
HERESIARCH: NESTORIUS.

The Council of Ephesus, of more than 200 bishops, presided over by St. Cyril of Alexandria representing Pope Celestine I, defined the true personal unity of Christ, declared Mary the Mother of God (theotokos) against Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, and renewed the condemnation of Pelagius.

In order to provide some background material for the Orientale Lumen Conferences in 2010, with the help of Father Michael Hayduk, I prepared a summary of the first Seven Ecumenical Councils that I post here.

SITE: Constantinople (near Bosporus, a strait in today’s Turkey).
YEAR: A.D. 381
POPE: St. Damasus I, 367 - 384
EMPEROR: Theodosius I, the Great, 379 - 395
ACTION: It appears that Pope St. Damasus I was not contacted in regard to this council attended by about 186 bishops. Called by the emperor, it was not attended by the pope or his legates or any bishops from the West. Nevertheless, it is listed as a General Council of the 4th century by papal decrees of the 6th century, by which time its doctrinal definitions were accepted throughout the Church (Murphy, pg. 41). This council condemned the heresy of Macedonius by clearly defining the divinity of the Holy Ghost: He is not created like the angels no matter how high an order is attributed to such a “creature.” The council also reaffirmed the faith of Nicaea.
NOTE: St. Gregory Nazianzen, Doctor of the Church (d. 389), was the bishop presiding. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church (d. 386), was also in attendance.
HERESIARCH: MACEDONIUS.

The First General Council of Constantinople, under Pope Damasus and the Emperor Theodosius I, was attended by 150 bishops. It was directed against the followers of Macedonius, who impugned the Divinity of the Holy Ghost. To the above-mentioned Nicene Creed it added the clauses referring to the Holy Ghost (qui simul adoratur) and all that follows to the end.

In order to provide some background material for the Orientale Lumen Conferences in 2010, with the help of Father Michael Hayduk, I prepared a summary of the first Seven Ecumenical Councils that I post here.

SITE: Nicaea (in N.W. Asia Minor)
YEAR: A.D. 325
POPE: St. Sylvester I, 314 - 335
EMPEROR: Constantine I, The Great, Western Roman Emperor 306-337; Sole Emperor 324 - 337
ACTION: Called by the emperor and ratified by the Pope, this council condemned the heresy of Arius (priest of Alexandria, d. 336) by defining the CONSUBSTANTIALITY of God the Son with God the Father. The Son is of the “same substance,” homo-ousion, as the Father (St. Athanasius); not merely a “like substance,” homoi-ousion (as with the semi-Arians); nor is He (as Arius taught) some sort of super-creature.
NOTE: St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church (d. 373), Bishop of Alexandria, was present as deacon and peritus at Nicaea; exiled five times and excommunicated by the Arians. St. Ephrem, Doctor of the Church (d. 373), deacon, was also present at Nicaea as peritus.
HERESIARCH: ARIUS.

The Council of Nicaea lasted two months and twelve days. Three hundred and eighteen bishops were present. Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, assisted as legate of Pope Sylvester. The Emperor Constantine was also present. To this council we owe The Creed (Symbolum) of Nicaea, defining against Arius the true Divinity of the Son of God (homoousios), and the fixing of the date for keeping Easter (against the Quartodecimans).

Three Orientale Lumen Conferences are scheduled for the summer of 2010, all on the theme of “The Councils of the Church.”  We have a great lineup of speakers from around the world including hierarchs, theologians and other leading experts, all from a wide range of Church traditions, both Catholic and Orthodox.

The deadline for registration for ALL three of these conferences is fast approaching. 

For the conference in Constantinople, July 5-8, the deadline for registration is May 1.  For the two US conferences in June, the early registration deadline is also May 1 when you can register for a discounted fee.  The final deadline is June 1.  See the attached brochures for more details on each conference.

If you are planning to attend one or more of this year’s conferences, please register ASAP so we can plan our meals, lodging and transportation accordingly.

OL XIV Brochure

OL EuroEast III Brochure

For the past fifteen years, I have personally subsidized the establishment and growth of Eastern Christian Publications, the Orientale Lumen Conferences, and most recently Orientale Lumen TeleVision.  Last year, at the suggestion of many who responded to our survey for OLTV, I created the Orientale Lumen Foundation to provide a more stable and permanent financial environment for future projects and programs.  The Foundation has been granted 501(c)3 status by the IRS as a charitable and tax exempt organization, so your donations made to the foundation are tax deductible.

There are several projects needing additional funding support right now:

• Establish a special fund to subsidize some of the travel expenses for 12 students and professors from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome to attend the Orientale Lumen EuroEast III Conference in Constantinople
• Provide a scholarship fund for students or monastics who wish to attend the Orientale Lumen Conferences in the US
• Record and edit additional theological lectures for OLTV programs (including ones by Metropolitan Kallistos, Archimandrite Robert Taft, and others)
• Record and edit the three OL Conferences scheduled for this coming summer to create a large educational library of lectures by our 20 speakers on the conference theme “The Councils of the Church”
• Convert our most popular recent book, “Finding A Hidden Church” by Father Chris Zugger, into a documentary about the persecution and resurrection of the Greek Catholic Church of Transcarpathia, Ukraine, homeland of the American Byzantine Catholic Church

I urgently ask for your help and support by making a financial donation to the Foundation so that we can continue and expand the valuable programs that I have started.

You can contribute in one of four ways:

1. Go to our website www.oltv.tv and select the Donations tab on the left side of the screen.  This will provide you a screen to make a donation directly to the Foundation through PayPal.
2. Go to our website www.olconference.com and click on the text link on the lower right corner of the home page.  Choose the amount you wish to donate, and pay by credit card.
3. Access the PDF file below, print the donation form, and send with your check or credit card information to our office.
4. Call our office at 703-691-8862 and make your donation over the phone by credit card

 OL Foundation Donation Form

Any amount will be greatly appreciated.  For donations of $100 or more, we will send you a thank you gift DVD of Metropolitan Kallistos’ lecture at Catholic University in February, 2010 on the status of the Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue.

If you would like to discuss any of our programs further, or an even larger donation, please contact me directly by email at jackfigel@verizon.net.   Thank you for your support!