21-Oct-99 -- Vatican Information Service
ORIENTAL CHURCH BISHOPS, MAJOR SUPERIORS TO MEET IN BOSTON
VATICAN CITY, OCT 21, 1999 (VIS) - From November 7 to 12, the archdiocese of Boston, U.S.A., will host a meeting of bishops and major superiors of the Oriental Churches in North America, South America and Australia, it was announced today.
Joining them will be Cardinal Bernard Law, archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Oriental Churches, the congregation's secretary and under-secretary, and Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio in the United States.
This is the fourth in a series of similar meetings held since 1996, according to a communique on this encounter. "It completes a first examination of the life of the Catholic Oriental Churches in diverse parts of the world."
In addition to speeches, workshops and testimonials from the various regions, there will daily liturgies, each celebrated according to a different rite. The Churches that will be represented include the Armenian, Chaldean, Coptic, Ethiopian, Maronite, Melkite, Romanian, Ruthenian, Syrian, Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankar, Slovakian and Ukrainian.
"The point of departure," says the communique, "will be an examination of the consequences of the massive diaspora on the life of the Oriental Churches in their traditional territories." Participants will also address the question of what links should bind the mother Churches to the ecclesial communities of the diaspora.
