Ecumenical Engagement with Eastern Minority Churches in Muslim States: Pro Oriente’s Encounters and Legacies in Syria and Egypt

ABSTRACT

The former Viennese Cardinal Franz König and his foundation Pro Oriente have been prominent actors in the establishment of ecumenical relations between the Catholic Church and Oriental Orthodox Churches since the Second Vatican Council. This article discusses the Christian-Muslim relations dimension of this ecumenical engagement with Middle Eastern churches in the practical field of ecumenical travel to Syria and Egypt. This intertwining of ecumenical and inter-religious engagement is studied on the basis of archival collections and journalistic accounts that make it possible to grasp the administrative process of ‘travelling diplomacy’. The analysis links the practical work of ecumenical relations to the historical legacies of the Western encounter with Islam in the post-Ottoman area. I shall argue that Pro Oriente’s approach was based on a new post-Vatican II theological vision of Islam. Although this did include reorientation with regard to traditional orientalist perceptions, ecumenism also became caught up in political dilemmas that were connected to either an orientalist perception of ecumenical relations (Egypt) or religious legitimization of an authoritarian regime (Syria).

KEYWORDS:

• Christian-Muslim relations
• ecumenism
• interreligious dialogue
• Syria
• Egypt
• Oriental Orthodox Churches

Acknowledgement

A first draft of this article was presented at the 1st Annual Conference of the European Academy of Religion, in March 2018 in Bologna. I thank the participants in the ‘History of Ecumenism’ network and its organizers for their thoughts and comments. I am grateful to Annemarie Fenzl (Kardinal König Archiv), Johann Weißensteiner (Archiv der Erzdiözese), Regina Augustin, Johann Marte, Erich Leitenberger (Pro Oriente) and Prof. Dietmar W. Winkler (Centre for the Study of Eastern Christianity) for their help and advice that has contributed to the results of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Andreas Schmoller http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6830-2246

Notes

1. The empirical data for this study is primarily taken from two archival collections. One is that of Kardinal König’s personal correspondence preserved at the Kardinal König Archiv (KKA), the second is the archival collection of Pro Oriente held at the Archive of the Archdiocese of Vienna (Archiv der Erzdiözese Wien, abbreviated AEW) including official documents, publications, protocols of executive board meetings and correspondence of the Pro Oriente secretary, as well as a collection of articles from Western and Arab news agencies and newspapers regarding relevant topics such as Christian–Muslim relations. This data (enriched by additional oral sources used following a triangulative method) provides important insights into how this ecumenical engagement was received on both sides.

2. Cardinal König’s visits to Middle Eastern countries while he served as Archbishop of Vienna (1956–1985): Cairo 1965 upon invitation from al-Azhar University (lecture on March 31); ecumenical visits within the framework of Pro Oriente: Egypt (10–18 November 1975), Syria (27–31 March 1978), Lebanon (1–2 April 1978), Egypt (22–27 October 1982), Holy Land (27 October–2 November 1982). This and all further facts are taken from documents collected in the relevant file in KKA (see references).

3. KKA, Letter from Georg Mautner-Markhof, Austrian Ambassador in Syria, to Cardinal König, 14 February 1978.

4. KKA, Letter from Pierre Duprey to Kardinal Franz König, 29 January 1978.

5. The sources do not mention the name of the mosque complex that was reconstructed in the 1970s and included all the facilities of Kuftaro‘s foundation (Stenberg 2008–2009).

6. AEW, Pro Oriente 1978–1982, Gedächtnisprotokoll G-150, Gespräch mit Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, 20 September 1982, Vienna.

7. See especially AEW, Pro Oriente 1980–1990.

8. AEW, Pro Oriente, Letter from Stirnemann to Dexinger, 1 June 1970.

9. This assessment can be found throughout the archival material, even until later periods; i.e. AEW, Pro Oriente 1987–1991, Gedächtnisprotokoll 219/87.

10. KKA, Letter from Achille Glorieux to Franz König, 22 July 1982.

11. KKA, Letter from König to Piffl-Percevic, 10 August 1982.

12. The most important daily Kronen-Zeitung (29 October 1982) mentioned the meeting on page one along with a picture of König and Bishop Grigorios.

13. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Gstrein (accessed April 3, 2018). His engagement is also documented in numerous journalistic contributions.

14. It is of note that the Archive of Pro Oriente contains a copy of Gstrein’s article for the daily Die Presse about König’s visit (16 October 1982), in which a lot of passages are struck through. It might be assumed that this was done by some Pro Oriente member who disagreed with the opinion of the writer.