Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
June 4, 2003

S.E. Mons. Salvatore Fisichella, Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University and Vicar of Pope John Paul II, visited the Faculty of Theology of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade today, together with His Excellency Eugenio Sbarbaro, Apostolic Nuncio to Yugoslavia, and Archbishop of Belgrade Stanislav Hocevar. The guests, the Dean and the members of the Educational Council of the Faculty of Theology, led a friendly and open dialogue and exchanged their opinions on the framework and forms of scientific-theological cooperation between these two educational institutions. It has been planned that two permanent expert committees should act as coordinating bodies. The talks dwelled on the potential areas of theological knowledge whose exchange would be of greatest priority, and on the relevant experience regarding the pastoral responsibility of both Churches at the end of Modernism; then it was discussed about the matter of internal theological dialogue in which common elements of triadology and eschatology would be explored, as well some disputable and not sufficiently clear dimensions of those elements. The talks also included the topics relating to the contemporary time and the outlook of the Church mission, and facing of Islamic challenge in Europe of today.