In early May 2024, the 18th plenary session of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Lutheran World Federation and the Orthodox Church was held in Cairo, Egypt. The main result of this session was “Common statement on the Filioque”. In this way, the commission participated in the preparation of the celebration of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council held in Nicaea in 325.
Representatives of ten local orthodox churches took part in the meeting of the Commission from the Orthodox side – from among the traditional members of the commission only representatives of the Jerusalem, Russian and Romanian churches did not participate.
The published document emphasizes: “As part of the Latin tradition, the reformers inherited the Creed with the Filioque and did not consider it problematic. Valuing this old and most venerable ecumenical Christian text, we suggest that the translation of the Greek original (without the Filioque) be used in the hope that this will contribute to the healing of age-old divisions between our communities and enable us to confess together the faith of the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381)”.
The document also admits that both sides “affirm that in our Trinitarian doctrine the Father is the cause (αἴτiος) of the generation of the Son and of the procession of the Spirit. The Orthodox understand that the Filioque was often meant to underline the relationship between the Son and the Spirit and the Lutherans are aware that in the Orthodox tradition the Spirit is sometimes conceived as proceeding (ἐκπορευόμενον) through the Son”.
The document emphasizes that many Church Fathers used the expression “through the Son”: “We are also aware that there are other ways to indicate the relationship of the Son and the Spirit. We hope that the exploration of the formula ‘through the Son’ used by Maximus the Confessor, John of Damascus, and Tarasius of Constantinople and relevant views by Gregory of Cyprus and Gregory Palamas, might facilitate our common effort to reach further agreement regarding the procession of the Holy Spirit”.
The official text of the statement in English can be found on the website of the Lutheran World Federation at the link http://lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/2024-07/Lutheran-Orthodox-Joint-Statement-Filioque-EN.pdf
