The scheduled meeting of the “enlarged” Board of Directors of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies took place on Saturday, June 24, at the “Thessalia” Conference Center in Melissatika, Volos, with the participation of many associates of the organization and also with the presence of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the members of his Entourage, who is visiting Volos these days. The General Secretary on Religious Affairs, Dr. Georgios Kalantzis, also attended the meeting.

In his address to the Patriarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Ignatius of Demetrias, pointed out that the Church needs to address the contemporary problems, such as the climate crisis, nationalism, the great migration flows from Asia and Africa and nowadays the artificial intelligence, underlining that the goals of Volos Academy are common with those of the Church of Constantinople. He referred to the close ties that the Academy has developed with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and to the fact that two distinguished hierarchs of the Patriarchate, the late John D. Zizioulas, Metropolitan of Pergamon and the late Kallistos Ware, Metropolitan of Diokleia, were received as Fellows and Honorary Members of the Volos Academy. Closing, he emphasized the fact that the Patriarchal presence at the Board Meeting “constitutes a milestone in the history of the Academy and charges all of us with the responsibility to respond in the best possible way to the Patriarchal trust in us."

Addressing the Ecumenical Patriarch in his turn, the Director of Volos Academy Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis outlined the course of the Academy to date and its evolution in its 23 years of existence, from a series of summer seminars in the year 2000 to a recognized Research Center of international fame. He briefly presented the work of the Academy, highlighting its contribution to critical issues such as the relationship between Orthodoxy and modernity, Orthodoxy and nationalism, Orthodoxy and politics, Orthodoxy and human rights, Orthodoxy and democracy, state and Church, Orthodoxy and science, while he mentioned the Academy’s interventions on gender issues and on the position of women in the Church, as well as on the participation of the Orthodox in the Ecumenical movement and interreligious dialogues. He underlined on the one hand the support provided to the Academy by His Eminence Ignatius, the Metropolitan of Demetrias, and on the other hand the constant inspiration that the Ecumenical Patriarch’s initiatives and speeches provided for the progress of the Academy, emphasizing the underlying closeness and commonality of spirit. The Director of the Academy made a special reference to three recent achievements of the Volos institution, namely the summer Training Program for Ukrainian Priests and Theologians which has been taking place since 2019, immediately after the granting of Ukrainian autocephaly; to the “Declaration on the teaching of the ‘Russian World’” which was drawn up shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine; and finally to the hosting in Volos of the Second International Mega-Conference of the International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA), in January 2023. The Director of the Academy finally underlined the priority and the central role of theology, as the prophetic and critical voice of the Church and as the only weapon of the Church against the understanding of the ecclesiastical event in terms of splendor and power, while he did not fail to mention the persecution of the free theological expression in some Orthodox Churches. Closing, he submitted a series of proposals for further activities of the Academy, on behalf of the Board of Directors and the research associates, asking for their approval and the relevant blessing from His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Replying, the Ecumenical Patriarch expressed his joy for being at the Volos Academy, pointing out that the Academy has already offered a lot to the Church and to theology. “We applaud and bless every initiative that promotes the ‘dialogical theology’, as it is the only one corresponding to the Tradition of Orthodoxy, the tradition of the Apostles and the Church Fathers. We are convinced that the witness of the already given Divine Grace and the forthcoming completeness of the Divine Economy in the Eschatological Kingdom, is impossible to be offered by a closed-minded and gloomy Orthodoxy,” said the Patriarch, reminding also the great appreciation the late Metropolitan John D. Zizioulas expressed for the work of Volos Academy. “The nature of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is to ‘live with dialogue’, and thus, in this sense, the Patriarchate and the Academy share the ‘common ground’ of the dialogical Orthodoxy.” Concluding, the Ecumenical Patriarch expressed “toward the person of the Director of the Volos Academy, the just praise to the members of its Board of Directors and to all the contributors to its exemplary operation,” addressing also Metropolitan Ignatius by the phrase “Your Eminence, you have the right to feel proud of the Academy for Theological Studies of your God-guarded metropolis!”

Taking the floor, research associates and members of the Board of Directors of the Volos Academy referred to their particular activities, such as the eco-theological programs, the research on the manuscript tradition of the New Testament, the study of the Oriental Orthodox Churches and their history, but also the challenge of the witness of the Church in the contemporary world. At the completion of the meeting, the Ecumenical Patriarch offered his blessing, together with commemorative gifts to the members of the Board of Directors and to the staff of the Volos Academy.