The Dispute with Catholics – The Procession of the Holy Spirit

the most important doctrinal disputes between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, namely the procession of the Holy Spirit, explaining the Orthodox faith as received from the Holy Scripture and the Ecumenical Councils, and clarifying the danger of any addition that affects the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Lecture Summary

1. His Holiness Pope Shenouda III explains that the dispute with Catholics includes many doctrinal and ecclesiastical issues, such as purgatory, the primacy of Rome, rites, the Virgin Mary, family matters, and the saints.

2. In this lecture, he focuses on the procession of the Holy Spirit as one of the most serious doctrinal disputes because it touches the essence of faith in the Trinity.

3. He explains that the Coptic Orthodox Church believes, according to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father” only.

4. He affirms that this doctrine is firmly rooted in Scripture, citing John 15:26, which clearly states that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father.

5. He explains that the addition “and the Son” (Filioque) is a later Latin addition that was not originally present, nor found in the Greek text of the Creed.

6. He clarifies that this addition was not approved by the Ecumenical Councils, and that explicit anathemas were issued against altering the Creed.

7. He explains that teaching the procession of the Holy Spirit from both the Father and the Son distorts the doctrine of the Trinity and confuses the hypostatic relationships.

8. He carefully distinguishes between procession as an eternal reality within the nature of the Trinity, and mission as a temporal event that occurred on the Day of Pentecost.

9. He affirms that the sending of the Holy Spirit does not imply His procession from the Son, but that His procession is eternally from the Father before all ages.

10. He concludes by affirming that Orthodox faith preserves the balance of the Holy Trinity without confusion or addition, as handed down through the generations.

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