Final press release

Among the representatives of the various Churches who took the floor during the work of the conference we wish to mention metropolitans Georges of Mount Lebanon and Paul of Aleppo (Patriarchate of Antioch), bishops Kliment of Krasnoslobodsk (Patriarchate of Moscow), Porfirije of Jegar (Serbian Orthodox Church), Grigorij of Veliko T?rnovo and Boris of Agatonica (Bulgarian Orthodox Church), Serafim (Orthodox Church of America), cardinal Angelo Sodano, former Secretary of State and dean of the Sacred College, bishop Mansueto Bianchi of Pistoia, president of the commission on ecumenism and dialogue of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, bishop Gabriele Mana of Biella, our local ordinary, bishop Arrigo Miglio of Ivrea, secretary of the Piedmont Bishops’ Conference, don Andrea Palmieri, official of the Pontifical Council for promoting Christian unity, father Constantin Preda (Romanian Orthodox Church), delegate of patriarch Daniel, father Ruben Zargaryan (Apostolic Armenian Church), delegate of the catholicos of all Armenians Karekin II, archimandrite  Athenagoras (Fasiolo)  (Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy and Malta), canon Jonathan Goodall (Church of England), delegate of archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, and Michel Nseir, delegate of the secretary general of the World Council of Churches Olav Fikse Tveit.
The course of the conference began by letting itself be guided by the spiritual comprehension of Scripture in the fathers. The authority of Scripture in the spiritual life is a constant in authors like John Chrysostom (The Word for the life of the people of God: saint John Chrysostom, fr Dimitrij Jurevi?), Ephrem the Syrian (Saint Ephrem the Syrian, singer of the Word of God, Sebastian Brock), in the fathers of the desert (The Bible in the spiritual experience of the fathers of the desert, Luigi d’Ayala Valva), in Gregory the Great (Lectio divina as contemplation of the Word: saint Gregory the Great, Photios Ioannidis), up to an author so imbued with the spirit of the fathers as was Theophan the Recluse (Exegesis and spiritual life: saint Theophan the Recluse comments the Psalms, Natalija A. Suchova). Each of these authors — the Greek, Syriac, Egyptian, Latin, and Russian worlds — reminds us of the necessity of meditating on Scripture.

The conference then posed the question how the exegesis of the fathers, who used the instruments of analysis and comprehension of the text of their times can be rethought today and integrated with the historical-critical approach, without being prejudiced in advance. This highly topical problem was taken up from various angles in the papers of Daniel Ayuch (The fathers and Biblical hermeneutics), John Fotopoulos (Historical-critical exegesis and of the Bible and Orthodoxy), Anatolij A. Alekseev (Spiritual renewal and Biblical studies in Russia at the turn of the nineteenth century). This is not a matter of academic discussion, but a question vital for the future of the various Churches, as became clear during the ample debate, presided by father Michel van Parys, dedicated to The Bible in Orthodox tradition yesterday and today, which offered a key to the ecclesial, missionary, and eschatological reading of the Bible (with bishops Porfirije of Jegar, Boris of Agatonica, Kliment of Krasnoslobodsk, professor Petros Vassiliadis, and dr. Michel Nseir as participants).