Rev. Brian E. Daley, S.J., Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, as well as an accomplished priest, decorated author, and scholar was the keynote speaker at the 19th annual SS. Cyril and Methodius Lecture of the Byzantine Catholic Seminary held May 9 at the Cathedral Center in Munhall, Pa.
Father Daley spoke on “Breathing Unity: Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue Today and its Promise for the Eastern Catholic Churches.” This year’s lecture was attended by about 90 people including Metropolitan William Skurla, “Breathing Unity” 19th annual ss. Cyril and Methodius lecture held May 9 Bishop John Kudrick, faculty, staff, seminarians, graduates and members of the Board of Directors of the Seminary.
As the executive secretary of the Catholic-Orthodox Consultation for North America, Father Daley was in a unique position to provide his listeners with a careful synopsis and analysis of the history of relations between the Church in Rome and the Eastern Churches, leading up to our times Thus, the presentation facilitated a deeper appreciation for the complex history of ecumenical progress which has been made over so many hundreds of years.
One also sees, however, why progress that we might consider slow or even stalled does not in any way take away from our common hope for the future of the Eastern Catholic Churches in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. As in previous years, the lecture was followed by a question and answer period and reception.
The annual lecture series is sponsored by the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a community of mentors, teachers, and students forming leaders for the Church in an environment of Christian unity, integrity, and missionary spirit, with a commitment to ecumenism.
