Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the East

The Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the Orient (

. Permanent seat of the organisation is the .

Nature and objectives

The nature of the Conference has to be a sign and instrument of patriarchal collegiality and communion between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the universal Church. It aims to:^[1]

• reflect on and promote the Christian life in the Middle East
• coordinate pastoral activity, said the future of Christianity in those lands, and strengthen ties among the faithful to the homeland and the diaspora
• promote ecumenical and interreligious dialogue
• ensure the active participation of
  Catholics in the Council of Churches of the Middle East
• promote peace, development, respect for the rights of man and woman.

History

19-24 August 1991: I Annual Conference in Bikfaya in Lebanon

1992: Second Annual Congress at Coptic Patriarchal Seminary, Egypt

1993: Third Annual Conference for Latin bishopric in Amman, Jordan

19-24 September 1994: Fourth Annual Conference at the Melkite patriarchal residence in

4-11 September 1995: Fifth Annual Conference on Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Bzoummar near Beirut

13-18 October 1996: Sixth Annual Conference at the patriarchal residence in Syriac Convent of Our Lady of Deliverance in Sharfeh, Lebanon

19-25 October 1997: Seventh Annual Conference in Alexandria, Egypt

11-16 October 1998: Eighth Annual Conference in Amman, Jordan

3-6 November 1999: Ninth Annual Conference at the Maronite Patriarchate in

: Pastoral Letter of Catholic Patriarchs of the East on the movement œcuménique

16-20 October 2000: Tenth Annual Conference on Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Bzoummar

23-27 September 2001: Eleventh Annual Conference at the patriarchal residence in Syriac Convent of Our Lady of Deliverance in Sharfeh, Lebanon

16-20 October 2006: XVI Annual Conference at the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Bzoummar, Lebanon

15-19 October 2007: XVII Annual Conference at the summer Melkite patriarchal residence in Ain Traz, near Beirut

25-29 November 2019: Cairo, Egypt, where they met the

Composition

In 2012, the conference was composed of:[3]

• Antonios Naguib, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Coptic Catholic Church
• Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronite Church
• Gregory III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
• Ignace Joseph III Younan, Patriarch of Antioch of the Syriac Catholic Church
• Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldean Catholic Church
• Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenian Catholic Church
• Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

References