In the period between October and December 2022, the director and research associates of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies participated in the following conferences:
In Geneva, on October 24 and 25, 2022 , the annual meeting of the Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies (Yves Oltramare Chair on Religion and Politics), entitled “Femmes de pouvoir religieux" ("Women of religious power") took place. The meeting focused on the position of women in the three major monotheistic religions and the significant religious powers of women, which were significantly limited mainly in early capitalist society, essentially addressing the fact that today secularized societies are involved in a process of redefining gender relations with religious foundations, whether they offer opportunities for women to participate in the public sphere or inspire conservative revolutions. Information about the meeting and the program is available here https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/communications/events/femmes-de-pouvoir-religieux/ .
Among the speakers was the director of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis who developed the theme "Le pouvoir comme service et sacrifice: Sainte Marie (Skobtsova) de Paris, moniale et révolutionnaire" ("Power as ministry and sacrifice: Saint Maria (Skobtsova) of Paris, nun and revolutionary"). As he pointed out, among other things in his presentation, Saint Maria embodies a “new type of monasticism”, which comes to meet the challenges of modernity and the secularized society in which she lived and to answer the criticism on the social conformism of historical Christianity. The monasticism she experiences is not a departure from the world, but a renunciation of the authoritative and selfish spirit of the world. "In the final judgment I will not be asked whether I fulfilled my ascetic efforts successfully or how many penances and rosaries I did," Saint Maria used to say, "but I will be asked whether I fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick and the imprisoned. This is what I will be asked."
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The workshop "Churches at War: Eastern Christianity and the Invasion of Ukraine", organized by the University of Helsinki, took place in Helsinki on 31 October and 1 November (Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies). The workshop explored the involvement of the Russian Orthodox Church in the political and military aspirations of Kremlin, but also the dimension of resistance to the Russian invasion by the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Information about the workshop is available here https://blogs.helsinki.fi/churches-at-war/
The director of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis participated in the workshop and presented the topic "The emergence of a new theological agenda in Orthodoxy against the background of the war in Ukraine." Dr. Kalaitzidis focused on the theological justification of the war from the Russian side, on the confutation of Russian positions through the "Declaration on the Russian World teaching" signed by a large number of theologians worldwide, on the imperative for renewal of Orthodox theology and on the general need to condemn ethnophyletism of all forms.
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From November 2 to 5, 2022, the Conference "Listening to the East: Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Eastern Orthodox Church" was held in Rome, organized by the Pontifical University Angelicum and the Pro Oriente Foundation, with the participation of more than 80 bishops, clergy and lay theologians, mainly Orthodox but also Roman Catholic. The conference focused on the importance of the experience of synodality which characterizes the Orthodox Church, thus contributing to the effort of the Roman Catholic Church to integrate teachings and institutions of synodality into its wider practices and structures.
The Volos Academy for Theological Studies was represented by its director, Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, who made an intervention on the topic "Synodality without Women? Toward the Theological and Ecclesial Overcoming of the Sacralization of the Structures of the Patriarchal Societies" responding to the lecture by Dr. Teva Regule (President of the Orthodox Theological Society of America and Member of the Board of the Deaconess Center "St. Phoebe"), highlighting the problem of the marginalization of the laity and especially of women in the life of the Church, as well as the inequality between men and women, as the fruit of an essentially secular spirit that should not characterize the Church, which is an image of the Eschaton in History (a Greek translation of Dr. Kalaitzidis paper is posted in the blog of the Volos Academy here https://www.polymerwsvolos.org/2022/12/08/synodikotita_aneu-ginekon/#more-2180 ).
On behalf of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Rev. Dr. Amfilochios Miltos, (in the panel “Synodality as an expression of Communion in the Church”), Mr. Giorgos Vlantis (coordinator of the panel “Synodality at the local level”) but also the Academy's associate and Executive for Theological Dialogues at the Conference of European Churches (CEC) Mrs. Katerina Pekridou (coordinator of the panels "Synodality and Patristic phronema: The interaction between Synod and Patristic authority", "Practices of Synodality " and "Synodality and mission in the early Ecumenical movement") took also part. Video recording of the Conference is available on the organizers' channels, www.youtube.com/channel/UC9AFMp7-PrDF_Xf7n8rj0_Q and www.youtube.com/user/prpust, while the program and information about the Conference is available here https://angelicum .it/event/listening-to-the-east-synodality-in-the-life-and-mission-of-the-eastern-orthodox-church/
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On the occasion of the upcoming celebration of 1700 years since the First Ecumenical Council (325-2025), an international Inter-Christian Conference entitled “Πιστεύομεν (We believe): The Status Quaestionis and the Neglected Topics of Nicaea and its Creed” was held in Istanbul, on December 1 and 2 under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and with the organizational responsibility of the Italian Foundation Fscire (Fondazione per le scienze religiose, Bologna). The conference aimed to explore new perspectives in the study of the history of the doctrinal teaching of the First Council of Nicaea, which was certainly a turning point in the history of Christianity and a cornerstone of the process that led to the formation of the Nicene-Constantinople Creed. The opening of the conference was announced by His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew, while in the opening session the General Secretary of Fscire Professor Alberto Melloni and Metropolitan Geron of Chalcedon, Emmanuel also greeted. Greetings were also addressed by the Director of the "Faith and Order" Commission of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr. Ódair Pedroso Mateus, H.E. Metropolitan Mgr. Angelos from the Coptic Archdiocese of London and H.E. Archbishop Massimiliano Palinuro, Vicar Apostolic in Istanbul. Among the presenters of the conference was the research associate of the Volos Academy, Dr. Nikos Kouremenos, who spoke about the Seleucia-Ctesiphon council (410 AD) and the reception of the Council of Nicaea by Persian Christianity. Representing the Conference of European Churches, Mrs. Katerina Pekridou (who also happens to be a research associate of the Volos Academy) moderated one of the sessions. More information about the Conference can be found here https://www.fscire.it/the-status-quaestionis-and-the-neglected-topics-of-nicaea-and-its-creed/ .
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Finally, from the 1st to the 4th of December, the 5th Conference of the St Chrysostom Orthodox Research Institute was held in Iasi, Romania , in a hybrid format, in collaboration with the Theological School of the University of Iasi and the local Orthodox Diocese. The general theme of the conference was "The pillars of Orthodox Spirituality." The purpose of the conference was to examine aspects of Orthodox spirituality, as reflected in the texts of specific Church Fathers (e.g. Symeon the New Theologian) but also in the work of contemporary theologians with reference to today's challenges and current problems. More information about the Conference can be found here https://orthodoxresearchgroup.com/oric-conference-2022-iasi-2/ .
Among the speakers of the conference were included a) the deputy director of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Dr. Nikolaos Asproulis, who presented the theme: "Eco-dogmatics, Eco-spirituality and the challenge of the climate crisis." Taking into account the rapid deterioration of the environmental crisis, the speaker tried to describe the main points of a new model of theology, which tries to utilize the data of ecology and environmental studies in order to interpret the doctrinal faith and spirituality of the Church (e.g. Christology, anthropology, Eucharistic ethos) in a way that gives answers to the ecological crisis; and b) the associate of the Volos Academy, Dr. Nikos Tsirevelos, who developed the topic: “’You are the salt of the earth’ (Μatthew 5:13): Christian Witness, Preaching and Education in the Post-Pandemic Period,” highlighting the importance of preaching and education in the context of the Christian mission in a time like today, which is trying to get back to normality after the coronavirus pandemic.