Teaching Ecumenism in Orthodox Contexts

Ημερομηνία δημοσίευσης: Nov 10, 2011 11:18:48 AM

Dr Pantelis Kalaitzidis

Director of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies

Welcoming Address

to the Preparatory Meeting For the Publication

of a Reference Book for Teaching Ecumenism in Orthodox Contexts

An ETE/WCC, CiD/CEC and Volos Academy Project

Volos, Greece, October 16-18, 2011

Your Eminence, Reverend Fathers, respected colleagues, dear sisters and brothers in

Christ!

It is with particular joy that I greet the Preparatory Meeting For the

Publication of a Reference Book for Teaching Ecumenism in Orthodox Contexts, on

behalf of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies; a joint project of the Program

on Ecumenical Theological Education of the World Council of Churches

(ETE/WCC), in cooperation with the Commission “Churches in Dialogue” of the

Conference of European Churches (CiD/CEC). We are indeed honored by this

gathering of all you eminent Orthodox theologians and Ecumenists from all over the

world, and from various local Orthodox Churches, who, despite the fact that they are

not officially representing their respective Churches, they confirm and in fact

incarnate the strong commitment of these Churches to the Ecumenical dialogue and to

the common concern for the unity of all Christians. We warmly welcome you in the

city of Volos, in the Diocese of Demetrias and its Conference center, and in our

Academy for Theological Studies, wishing you a joyful stay, fruitful exchanges and

discussions during this meeting, with all the blessings of our Triune God!

As it is well known, the Volos Academy for Theological Studies―a Church

related institution―functions as an open forum of thought and dialogue between the

Orthodox Church and the broader scholarly community of intellectuals worldwide. In

its effort to foster interdisciplinary, inter-Christian and inter-religious understanding,

the Volos Academy has been organizing a series of studies, international seminars,

conferences, round tables and publications, focusing mainly in contemporary issues

for Orthodox theology, in the dialogue with Modern world, and in issues related to the

ecumenical movement and ecumenical theology. In order to meet this objective, the

Volos Academy has collaborated with numerous other academic and ecclesial

2

institutions, jointly addressing problems and challenges of our time, in a spirit of

respect for each other’s differences. The scholarly fruits of these conferences have

been published jointly with distinguished Greek publishing houses, and more recently

in English, French and Romanian translations. As a result of this scholarly activity,

the Diocese of Demetrias and the city of Volos have become an international meeting

place for encounter and dialogue.

For Volos Academy, an Orthodox Institution faithful to the eschatological

understanding of the Tradition and of the Church-world relationship, ecumenical

theological education is a vital priority. We think that the Orthodox Church has to

witness for its ecumenical ethos, and for its catholic truth and self-consciousness, and

thus, curricula have to be ecumenically-oriented and be opened up to this theological

direction. Furthermore, including ecumenical education in the missionary and pastoral

work and agenda, is bearing witness to the Gospel’s message of the catholicity of the

Church. Since the apostolic period, teaching the word of God that embraces the other

despite the differences of culture, religion, origin, gender, political and social

background, has always been a priority in the life of the Church. Opening our

education institutions, schools and faithful communities to the ecumenical movement

is incarnating the word of God in history and witnessing that the Church exists for all

people and creation, for the benefit of the whole world. At the same time, teaching

about the “other” (the Christian “other” in this case), and learning from the “other”

and about the “other,” and moreover be aware of the long and rich story of the

encounter and of the dialogue with the other Christians, helps us to overcome

ignorance and prejudices, introversion and fundamentalism, theological selfsufficiency

and confessional entrenchment.

Inspired and motivated by the ecumenical ethos of Orthodoxy as it was

described above, the “Volos Initiative for Ecumenical Theological Education in

Central and Eastern Europe,” was inaugurated in February 2007; a joint initiative

between ETE/WCC and the Volos Academy, which insisted on “increased efforts

and proper resources to strengthen ecumenical theological education in Central and

Eastern Europe.”

During the period following the launch of the “Volos Initiative for Ecumenical

Theological Education in Central and Eastern Europe,” the Volos Academy continued

to be active in the field of ecumenical theology and more widely in the ecumenical

movement, not only by participating in ecumenical gatherings, but also by co3

organizing and hosting events of significant ecumenical importance such as: 1) the

international conference on “Forgiveness, Reconciliation and Peace,” organized in

May 2007, in Volos, in cooperation with the Decade to Overcome Violence

(DOV/WCC) and the Boston Theological Institute; 2) the International Congress of

World Conference of Associations of Theological Institutions (WOCATI) in June

2008, on “Theological Education: A Radical Reappraisal”; 3) the Global

Consultation: Stem Cell Research in the service of human life?: Ethical and

Theological Reflection, organized in November 2009, in Volos, in collaboration with

the WCC Program “Faith, Science, Technology and Ethics”, which commemorated

the 30th anniversary of the Conference on “Faith and Science”, that was held in 1979

at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); 4) the international conference on

the “Christian Presence and Witness in the Palestine and the Middle East,” in June

2011, in Volos, in cooperation with the WCC Program “Churches in the Middle East:

Solidarity and Witness for Peace”; 5) the international conference “Being Human,

Becoming Divine: Elisabeth Behr-Sigel’s Contribution to the Church,” in September

2011, in Strasbourg, France, in cooperation with the Institute of Ecumenical Research,

the “Faith and Order” Secretariat of the WCC, and the “Women in Church and

Society” Program of the WCC. Specifically linked to the study of Ecumenics is the

participation of the Volos Academy as co-sponsor of the International Seminar on the

“Future of Ecumenical Theological Education in Eastern and Central Europe,” in

September 2008, in Sambata de Sus, Romania, in cooperation with ETE/WCC and

CiD/CEC; and more recently, the participation of the Volos Academy and of its

Digital Orthodox Library in the preparation of the On line Global Theological Library

(GlobeTheoLib) and in the International Consortium that manages this very important

On line Library.

Since February 2010, we are facing a new stage in our effort to enhance

ecumenical theological education in Orthodox contexts. Indeed, it was at this time, as

it is noted in the Outline Document, that the initial process started toward a Reference

Book on teaching ecumenism in Orthodox contexts, “as a follow-up of earlier

initiatives between Volos Academy and ETE.” Then, the “Churches in Dialogue”

Commission of CEC joined the project contributing its expertise and competence on

this topic of high importance and priority for the fruitful collaboration between the

European Churches. And “it was both during the Sibiu conference of November 2010

and in several other occasions that different voices indicated the need to have a proper

4

resource book for teaching ecumenism in Orthodox theological faculties and

academies.” What was of decisive importance at this point was the 2010 publication

of the Handbook on Theological Education in World Christianity, namely the first

volume at the level of World Christianity that brings together theological trends,

geographical and denominational representatives, and models of theological

education.

Thanks to the creative cooperation between ETE/WCC, CEC and Volos

Academy we have come to the Tentative Draft of the Outline Document. According

to this Document you have already received, - and I hope you have studied! - “this

resource book aims to facilitate theological education with regard to the ecumenical

movement in the context of Orthodox theological faculties and theological schools

and beyond. This publication is also planned as an important Orthodox contribution to

the forthcoming 2013 Assembly of WCC in Busan, Korea, where a major forum for

ecumenical theological education will take place as well as other significant

ecumenical events.” The goals of this publication, as are described in the Outline

Document, are:

a) To provide access to essential and authentic Orthodox texts relating to the

search for Christian unity as well as the understanding of ecumenism and the

involvement of Orthodox Churches in the ecumenical movement;

b) To provide access to official decisions and statements of Orthodox Churches

with regard to theological education and ecumenism;

c) To present materials from Orthodox theologians involved in theological

education on ecumenism from different contexts;

d) To identify proper additional resources which facilitate theological education

on ecumenism by course outlines and curriculum plans (bibliographies,

curriculum outlines, lists of websites with additional resources);

It is our task and work during these two days to reflect on these goals as well as on the

proposed structure and on the contents of this Handbook. According again to the

Outline Document, a first concept for a Table of Contents may be developed as

follows:

1) Introduction: The understanding of ‘ecumenism,’ major ecumenical

organizations (restricted to WCC, CEC) as well as multilateral and bilateral

dialogues)

5

2) Foundations: Orthodox Churches and ecumenism – introduction, historical

outline and selected historical key texts from Pan-Orthodox meetings

3) Theological Positions: Selected Texts from Orthodox Synods and Bishops

Conferences on Ecumenism/ Ecumenical relations (including e.g. the Special

Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC, etc)

4) Representative Key-Texts: Some prominent key-texts from Orthodox

theologians on ecumenism from past and present

5) Orthodox Settings: Articles and materials of the ecumenical involvement of

Eastern Orthodox Churches on ecumenism and theological education

(Orthodox Churches in Greece, Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Georgia

and others etc.)

6) Bilateral dialogues: Selected texts from official bilateral dialogues of the

Orthodox Churches with other churches on theological and ecumenical issues

7) Key themes: Selected key themes in ecumenism for Orthodox contexts

Common prayer, Worship and liturgy, Church unity, Theology (Holy Trinity,

Christology, Pneumatology), Spirituality, Ecclesiology, Scripture and

Tradition, Ethics and Ecology, Mission, Interfaith Dialogue, Diakonia; liturgy

after the liturgy, Women in Church and society

8) Orthodox Theological Institutions today (seminars, academies, institutes,

faculties) and Orthodox curricula on teaching ecumenism

9) Selected Bibliography and websites on ecumenism in Orthodox Churches

In our meeting we are also invited by the Outline Document to consider the possibility

of including in the Handbook a specific part on the ecumenical relations between

Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, while it will remain mainly

orientated to Eastern Orthodox Churches and ecumenism; to propose names of

possible contributors and specified themes; to identify crucial texts and relevant

materials to be included in the resource book; to discuss and decide on the size and

the publication of the Handbook, and on possible publishers; to reflect how to

communicate this new resource book to the different national constituencies and

important institutions of theological education in different Orthodox contexts.

Before concluding this welcoming address, allow me to thank the staff of the WCC

program on “Ecumenical Theological Education” and especially its Program

Coordinator, Rev Dr Dietrich Werner, for our fruitful and creative cooperation, for

6

his continuous commitment, moral support, as well as the material support to

actualize the project, and above all for sharing the vision of the Volos Academy; the

Director of the Commission “Churches in Dialogue” of the Conference of European

Churches, Rev Dr Kaisamari Hintikka, for her positive and valuable commitment to

the project; the Deputy General Secretary of WCC Mr Yorgo Lemopoulos, and the

former Director of the CiD/CEC Commission of the Conference of European

Churches, Rev Dr Viorel Ionita, for their significant contribution in the initiation of

the project; our Bishop, Metropolitan of Demetrias Ignatius for his continuous and

generous support; the staff of the Diocese and of the “Thessalia Conference Center”

for their precious logistic and technical support. Last but not least, I would like to

thank the team of the Volos Academy, Dr Eleni Kasselouri, Mr Nikos Asproulis, Ms

Aikaterini Pekridou, Ms Claire Nikolaou, Ms Valila Giannoutaki, and Mr

Philoktimon Stamopoulos-Samaras, who worked hardly and joyfully for the

preparation and success of this meeting

With these thoughts and remarks I greet this Preparatory meeting, wishing a

successful conference and all the blessings of our Triune God