On 4 December 2013, at the Patriarchal Palace, His Beatitude received His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who is on an official visit to Romania. The meeting was also attended by His Eminence Metropolitan Nifon, Archbishop of Târgoviște and Patriarchal Exarch, His Excellency Archbishop Francisco-Javier Lozano, Apostolic Nuncio to Romania, and His Excellency Bogdan Tătaru-Cazaban, Ambassador of Romania to the Vatican.
His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch thanked for the reception and the contribution of Romanian Orthodox Church representatives in the Joint International Commission for the Orthodox-Catholic Theological Dialogue. In this regard, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity expressed the hope that through dialogue and common reflection the current impasse in drafting a convergent working document on the relationship between primacy and synodality from a theological point of view can be overcome.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel thanked His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch for the support of the Roman Catholic Church given to the Romanian Orthodox Church by offering scholarships to young Romanian theologians and hosting Romanian Orthodox communities in Catholic churches in several European countries, for Orthodox worship services in those in the Romanian language.
The Patriarch of Romania stressed the importance of responsible cooperation for the drafting of a theological document on primacy and synodality, accepted by both sides. His Beatitude underlined the need in the theological dialogue between the two Churches to preserve a balance of reciprocity and complementarity between the primacy and synodality, given the different historical evolution in the East and the West. His Beatitude reiterated the importance of practical cooperation in the social field, parallel to the theological dialogue, as a common Christian witness in today’s secularised society and solidarity with persecuted Christians in different parts of the world today.
Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate
