Lutherans are one of the important Christian denominations. At one time, they arose in opposition to some teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. Despite some rapprochement with Catholics, they still remain a separate denomination, and most of its members are united in the Lutheran World Federation.
Orthodox, in turn, often position themselves as opposed to Catholics as well. Although historically they were distributed mainly in Eastern Europe, today they are present all over the world. There are various attempts to formulate a pan-Orthodox doctrine on one or another issue so that “Orthodoxy could speak with one voice” and they have varying degrees of success.
One form is the International Joint Commission of the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). From the Orthodox side, all local Churches are represented here, and therefore this is one of such attempts, which has been continuing its existence for several decades. In 2006, the 13th session of this commission was held in Bratislava to discuss the Eucharist. The following article, written jointly by Sergii Bortnyk and Yuriy Vorobyov, is devoted to the analysis of this document and its reception. We are attaching several official documents related to it. The article is written in Russian language.
- Article “The Issue of Eucharist in the Orthodox-Lutheran Dialogue: The Bratislava Document of 2006 and its Reception” (PDF, in Russian)
- Document “The Sacrament of the Church. The Holy Eucharist in the life of the Church” (PDF, in Russian)
- Conclusion of the Synodal Theological Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church (now “Synodal Biblical and Theological Commission”) on the Bratislava document (PDF, in Russian)
- Document “The Holy Eucharist in the life of the Church” (in English) is here – https://www.ecupatria.org/documents/xiii-session-of-the-international-joint-commission-of-the-theological-dialogue-between-the-orthodox-church-and-the-lutheran-world-federation-lwf/