From 13 to 15 December 2005 the Coordinating Committee of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church gathered in Rome to resume the discussions that had been interrupted in 2000 because of the disagreement on the issue of uniatism.

The Coordinating Committee is co-chaired by the co-presidents of the Joint Commission Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Metropolitan John of Pergamon (Patriarchate of Constantinople).

The Catholic members of the Committee are Archbishop of Korfu, Zante and Kefalonia Ioannis Spiteris, Bishop of Nanterre Gérard Daucourt, titular Archbishop of Abitine Brian Farrell, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Mons. Piero Coda, Rev. Prof. Dimitri Salachas, Rev. Dr Paul McPartlan, Rev. Fr Frans Bouwen, Rev. Dr Theresia Hainthaler, Mons. Eleutherio F. Fortino (co-secretary of the Commission).

The Orthodox members of the Committee include Metropolitan Makarios of Kenia (Patriarchate of Alexandria), Metropolitan Pavlos of Aleppo, Veroias and Alessa (Patriarchate of Antioch), Prof. Dr George Galitis (Patriarchate of Jerusalem), Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria (Patriarchate of Moscow), Bishop Ignatie of Branchevo (Patriarchate of Serbia), Bishop Petronius of Salaj (Patriarchate of Romania), Archbishop Basileios of Trimythous (Orthodox Church of Cyprus), Bishop Athanasios of Achaia (Church of Greece), Metropolitan Ambrosius of Helsinki (Autonomous Church of Finland), Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima (Patriarchate of Constantinople, co-secretary of the Commission).

On 14 December the Catholic and the Orthodox members of the Committee gathered separately in order to discuss the agenda of the meeting. Then followed a joint session during which both sides exchanged views on the continuation of the dialogue. The themes of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and of uniatism emerged as the most relevant for further discussions, but it was argued that both themes should be treated within the common framework of ecclesiology.

A separate session was dedicated to the document on the 'Ecclesiological and canonical consequences of the sacramental nature of the Church. Conciliarity and authority in the Church', adopted by the meeting of Coordinating Committee at St Daniel's monastery in Moscow on 1-8 September 1990, but never yet studied by the plenary Commission.

On 15 December the members of the Coordinating Committee were received in private audience by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. In his address the pope stressed the necessity 'of doing everything to re-establish full communion' between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

The communiqué of the meeting of the Coordinating Committee stated: 'At the meeting it was agreed that, in continuity with the Commission's previous agreed statements, the overall context of the Commission's work is the theology of koinonia or communion, and that this context needs to be strengthened by further study so as to enable the further discussion of two interconnected matters central to relations between the two Churches, namely the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and the issue of "uniatism"'.

The plenary meeting of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church is scheduled to take place in Belgrade, Serbia, from 18 to 25 September 2006.