Most Interesting Talk about the Ferrara-Firenze Council (1438-1439)

On Thursday, 4th July, 2024, the Greek-Catholic Parish ‘Our Lady of Damascus’ organized a talk with the title Il Concilio di Ferrara-Firenze (1438-1439): Un incontro scontro. The guest speaker was the Romanian Greek-Catholic priest Rev. Fr Vasile Alexandru Barbolovici from the San Rocco church in Mestre, Venezia. The talk was held at the Oratory of the Onorati, The Jesuits’ Church Foundation, Valletta.

The Ferrara-Firenze Council’s agenda covered such matters as reunification with several Eastern Churches, the Western insertion of the phrase “Filioque” to the Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed, the definition and number of the sacraments, the doctrine of Purgatory, papal primacy, as well as the promise of Western military assistance to the Byzantines against the Ottoman empire. On 6 July, 1439, the union was proclaimed (in both Latin and Greek) in the document Laetuntur Coeli (“Let the Heavens Rejoice”) which was signed by Pope Eugene and by the Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaiologos.

Rev. Fr Barbolovici holds a doctorate in theology, with a specialization in ecumenical studies, from the Pontificial University of Saint Anthony – the Antonianum, in Rome. The title of his PhD thesis is “Story and Ecclesiology of the Unions (2017)”, published in book form with the title Il concilio di Ferrara-Firenza (1438-1439). History and ecclesiology of the unions. (Bologna 2018).