The Father Alexander Schmemann Professor of Liturgical Theology Dr. Paul Meyendorff traveled to Washington D.C. on October 23-25, 2014, to participate in the 87th meeting of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation. For the past several years, the group has been working on issues of primacy and conciliarity. This meeting focused on the role of the laity in the life of the church.
In connection with the theme, Dr. Meyendorff presented a paper on baptismal ecclesiology, emphasizing the priestly, prophetic, and kingly roles bestowed on the faithful in baptism, and the implications of this for the life of the Church. The Consultation also began to plan for a special event in 2015, marking the 50th anniversary of the dialogue.
The Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation is an ecumenical standing conference that has met semiannually since 1965. It was founded under the auspices of the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), which was later replaced by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. In June of 2013, SVOTS hosted the 84th dialogue meeting, which was also attended by The Very Rev. John Erickson, former dean of St. Vladimir's.
