On 7 December 1965, in simultaneous ceremonies at the closing of the Second Vatican Council in Rome and at a special ceremony in Istanbul, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I issued this joint declaration removing the sentences of mutual excommunication exchanged in 1054. The text states that both churches regret the offensive words and gestures of that exchange, and it consigns the 1054 excommunications to oblivion. It resolves no doctrinal difference between the two churches, and says so plainly in its own words; the schism's substance remains unaddressed by this document. As the declaration itself, issued jointly and simultaneously, it is the primary source for the 1965 act. Use it for what the two churches themselves stated they were doing; a claim about whether the underlying schism was thereby healed needs a separate, secondary source alongside it.
Facts
Citation
AuthorPope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I
PublisherHoly See
Publication Year1965
URLhttps://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/speeches/1965/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19651207_common-declaration.html
Source Typeprimary-text
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
The joint declaration itself, issued in the two churches' own names; the primary instrument for the 1965 act. NotesThe joint declaration issued simultaneously in Rome and Istanbul on 7 December 1965, in which Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I lifted the mutual excommunications of 1054 and consigned them to oblivion, without resolving the underlying doctrinal differences between the two churches.
Custodian
Custodian SourceYes
Custodian BodyPope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I
Custodian BasisIssued jointly and simultaneously by the pope and the ecumenical patriarch, each acting for his own church. Authoritative for what each church itself stated about the 1054 excommunications.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Paul VI directly: "a special ceremony in Istanbul, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I issued this joint declaration removing the sentences of mutual excommunication exchanged in 1054."
Rome, Cities This source names Rome directly: "of the Second Vatican Council in Rome and at a special ceremony in Istanbul, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I issued this joint declaration removing the sentences of mutual..."
Claims Backed By This Source (15 claims)
This source backs 15 claims across the atlas. As facts: 12 well-attested. As cited relationships: 2 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 13 claims: 11 well-attested, 2 holds.
- Religious Events, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
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