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Why was the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue established in 1979?
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Eastern Orthodoxy
Jesus Christ, detail of the Deesis mosaic, from the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, 12th century.
The Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church was established in 1979 by the Holy See and 14 autocephalous churches with the specific purpose of further fostering ecumenism.1
This initiative followed a period of warming relations between the two traditions, particularly after the Second Vatican Council (1962β1965), which recognized the validity of the sacraments in the Eastern churches and saw the lifting of mutual excommunications that had persisted since the East-West Schism of 1054.21