Joint Resolutions


CONFRENCE OF THE HEADS OF ORIENTAL ORTHODOX CHURCHES

RESOLUTION I

We, the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, assembled with our delegations in conference, solemnly declare His Imperial Majesty Haile Sellassie I Emperor of Ethiopia as the “Defender of the Faith.”

RESOLUTION II

We, the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, assembled with our Delegations in Conference, at the successful conclusion of our sessions, are happy to pay tribute to His Imperial Majesty Haile Sellassie I, whose initiative and foresight made this meeting possible.

In this His Imperial Majesty follows the tradition of other great and inspired rulers who have played their appointed part in Christendom and have deserved the title of Defenders of the Faith.
The conference expresses its gratitude to His Imperial Majesty and to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for the work and efforts which have gone into the arrangements for this Conference. It thanks the Secretariat with its Head, the distinguished Secretary General, for the excellent arrangements at this Conference.
The members of the Conference have been extremely happy to visit the beautiful land of Ethiopia and to know its faithful and devoted people.

We raise our thanks to Almighty God for this meeting in love and brotherhood. We are confident that, with the blessing of Divine Providence, this meeting will be followed by others which will enlarge and strengthen the foundations so happily laid, for the good of our Churches and of Christendom.

RESOLUTION III
We, the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, assembled with our Delegation in Conference, wish to express our deep feelings of gratitude and appreciation for all those who have shared in helping the initiative of His Imperial Majesty to come into existence.

To those who have carried the burden of long preparation through correspondence and delegations who visited our churches more than once. To those who arranged the facilities to make our stay so happy and pleasant.

Special tribute is rendered to the silent workers, the Ethiopian theologians and young people who worked in the translation, clerical work, transportation and all Secretariat, under the wise guidance and patience of the Secretary General, Ato Abebe Retta.

We thank the Clergy including the Debtera (singers) in the Churches in which we worshipped together. We appreciate the hard work of the two lady secretaries who came especially from Geneva to help us in recording the minutes. We also extend our gratitude to the World Council of Churches who graciously made them available to us.