Awarding of the Order of Sankt Ignatios to Dr Pantelis Kalaitzidis, in Stockholm
In Stockholm, on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, the Director of Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Dr Pantelis Kalaitzidis, was awarded the Order of Sankt Ignatios by the Swedish Orthodox Theological University College “Sankt Ignatios”. The awarding of Dr Pantelis Kalaitzidis, which had already been announced last June, took place within the context of the International Conference on “Crisis in World Orthodoxy” organized by the College of Saint Ignatius, in which Pantelis Kalaitzidis also participated as a keynote speaker.
As stated in the motivation of the award, Pantelis Kalaitzidis is honoured “for his work in establishing a critical perspective of Greek theology, creating a dialogue with church authorities, civil society, and the state authorities. Through this critical dialogue, Dr Kalaitzidis has been a crucial voice in the creation of the new paradigm in Greek theology, where theology has been detached from authority, becoming an independent voice in forming the future of the Greek Church. The creation of Volos Academy for Theological Studies was in many ways the sequel to the Greek Orthodox Church opening up towards the inter-Christian movement with a renewed understanding of mission as solidarity with all nations and all religions. Institutions like Volos Academy and scholars like Dr Kalaitzidis were instrumental in consolidating this change within Greek orthodoxy, especially after the departure of Archbishop Christodoulos. By offering the Order of Sankt Ignatios to Dr Pantelis Kalaitzidis we want to emphasize that Dr Kalaitzidis and Volos Academy has been of major importance in maintaining the openness of the Greek Orthodox Church. Through their work they have promoted emancipation and dialogue instead of the ancient fortress ecclesiology that marked the early 20th century. Together with other institutions in Greece, they have transferred the Greek Orthodox Church from the carceral archipelago of securitism and control in the 20th century, to a hospitable and living ecclesiology that now marks the Greek Orthodox Church in the 21st century. Volos through its Diocese, Academy, and people has been in the midst of this change, for better or worse, leaving an indelible imprint on the Greek nation.”
Announcing the awarding, Dr Michael Hjälm, Rector of Sankt Ignatios College, stressed out that Pantelis Kalaitzidis “conceived in his mind the idea of the coming Kingdom not as an escape from the present but as a motivation for changing and making this present better. In his work, Dr Kalaitzidis has used critique as a vehicle for progression, criticizing everyone, trying to make Greek theology break out from its isolation. A couple of weeks ago I experienced, first hand, the success of a new generation of theologians in Greece, in the mega-conference in Athens, where ecclesiastical perspectives were met with scholarly perspectives, revealing a new discourse of theology where academic freedom becomes visible.” In his responding address, Pantelis Kalaitzidis expressed his joy and gratitude for the recognition of his work and of the contribution of Volos Academy, which adds up to the emergence of a critical theological discourse in Orthodoxy and to the formation of similar theological institutions. He also expressed his deep appreciation for the work carried out at the Sankt Ignatios Foundation, and thanked the Board of Trustees and the associates of the Foundation for the honor they bestowed upon him.
In his keynote speech at the Conference “Crisis in World Orthodoxy”, Dr Kalaitzidis briefly referred to the introvert stance of the Orthodox Church in the centuries after the Fall of Constantinople, but also to the efforts for extroversion that appeared in the second half of the 20th century, which ultimately could not prevent the current condition of crisis and fragmentation. This crisis becomes apparent in the retreat of catholicity and ecumenicity in favor of ethnocultural identity and the rise of ethnophyletism, in the absence of eschatological consciousness, in the inability of the Church to communicate with the secular cultures and the development of “ecclesiastical culturalism”, in the difficulty in addressing changes in relation to tradition, but also in the pending relationship of Orthodoxy with modernity and the absence of a dynamic theological discourse in the perspective of transforming the surrounding everyday life. According to P. Kalaitzidis, today there is an urgent demand for the presence and witness of Orthodoxy in multicultural contexts, with respect for otherness which “is constitutive of unity, and not consequent upon it,” to recall the words of the late Metropolitan John Zizioulas.
In the same day and in context of the same Conference, the awarding of the Indian theologian Rev. Dr. Jacob Thekkeparampil (Director of the Ecumenical Research Institute "Saint Ephraim" in Kerala, India), with the Sankt Ignatios Order for the year 2023, also took place. The Order was awarded “for his outstanding work in promoting studies in the Syriac tradition from the outset of an Asian perspective. [… Through his work,] Christianity in India is recognized as original prior to both Western colonization and Western confessionalization [… and] sources have been connected to people and people to nations and nations to the one Church. […] With his humility, he has opened doors toward the future of theology, embracing collegiality, for the sake of humanity.”
See the complete motivations for the prizes and the addressing of Dr Michael Hjälm for both awards, here
See the responding address of Pantelis Kalaitzidis here
See the complete programme and abstracts of the Conference here .
