Metropolitan Hilarion is stressing what Pope John Paul II called "the dialogue of love". The ecumenical engagement of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches consists of two concurrent dialogues: the dialogue of truth (which deals with dogmatic issues); and the dialogue of love (which deals with way in which we may draw closer to each other in charity). The underlying notion is to speak truthfully to each other, we must know each other; to know each other, we must love each other; to love each other, we must have some form of a common life together. Metropolitan Hilarion identifies specific areas in which the interests and the perspectives of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches overlap, and suggests that common efforts aimed at these will bear fruit both in our Churches and in the world.
