Summary of the Conference ACCESSING HEALTH AND APPROACHING THE SUFFERER

Summary of the 6th International Conference on Pastoral Health Care
ACCESSING HEALTH AND APPROACHING THE SUFFERER
with participation of the Director and Associates of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies

The 6th International Conference of the Network of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Pastoral Health Care was successfully held in Rhodes from October 29 to November 2, 2025. The theme of the conference was “Accessing Health and Approaching the Sufferer”.

The Conference is held every three years, giving the opportunity to local Churches, scientists and health professionals from all over the world who minister to the sick, to exchange their experiences and discuss the difficulties they face. The “Patriarchal Network” is coordinated by Fr. Stavros Kofinas, Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne, Coordinator of the Health and Healing Programme of the World Council of Churches.

The Conference was attended by representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Patriarchate of Romania, as well as representatives of the Metropolises of the Church of Greece, Europe, America, Canada and Australia. In addition, it was attended by representatives of other denominations, representatives of the Orthodox Academy of Crete and the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, representatives of the World Council of Churches, doctors, nurses, and people related to the ministry and care of patients.

The keynote speakers of the Conference were the Director of the Volos Academy, Pantelis Kalaitzidis, and Evangelos Venizelos, former Vice-President of the Government and Professor Emeritus of Constitutional Law of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Among the Conference attendants were the educational associates of Volos Academy, Vasso Gogou and Apostolos Barlos, the latter being also a member of the Network’s Coordination Committee.

In his greeting message, His-All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew pointed out that the Holy and Great Synod of Crete, in 2016, recognized scientific achievements as a God-sent gift to the human kind, but, at the same time, emphasized the dangers and limits of scientific progress, underlining that everyone bears responsibility for the future of the planet and for the preservation of moral principles. He further clarified that the Church is positive towards the holistic approaches in the field of health, since they offer possibilities for a person-oriented ethos in the field of health. He concluded by saying that religious faith and science are two forces that cooperate in the ministry of the human kind, and thus theology must participate in discussions of major anthropological issues. Greetings to the Conference were also delivered by the Archbishop Hieronimus of Athens and All Greece, Elias Tserkis, President of the Doctors’ Association of Rhodes, and Agni-Michaela Karavoulia, President of the Municipal Community of Ialyssos.

Then, after thanking all those who contributed to the realization of the 6th International Conference as well as all the speakers who participated in it, Fr. Stavros Kofinas referred to the work of the Patriarchal Network, making special reference to the Metropolis of Rhodes, which embraced the work of the Network from its very beginning. He presented in details his thoughts on the shaping of the Church of the future and on the need to maintain a healthy society. He stated that “we need to define what a healthy society means in view of the rapid developments and upheavals with which societies around the world are coming face to face; with the abuse of power, the consequences of wars, economic inequality, the misunderstanding of the concept of freedom and human rights, the breakdown and disruption of family unity, the increase in violence, the alienation and loneliness experienced by the helpless and the elderly, the uncontrolled and rapid development of digital technology”, calling for a move away from the convenience of the ecclesiastical environment and from the commercialization of healthcare, and for the search for ways to approach each sufferer with knowledge and empathy. At the end of the opening session, His Eminence Kyrillos, Metropolitan of Rhodes, welcomed the delegates and participants and declared the conference open.

The keynote speakers Evangelos Venizelos and Pantelis Kalaitzidis, addressed the question “What is a healthy society?” Evangelos Venizelos attempted to define the topic through a series of questions that, indirectly but clearly, provided answers to what a healthy society might be. These questions concerned the relationship between history and eschatology, science, ideology and theology, moral values, religious and cultural pluralism, especially in dominantly Orthodox societies such as Greece and Cyprus. He spoke on the place of religion, fundamentalism, sexual ethics, technology –and the very issue of Artificial Intelligence–, and economic development, in a healthy society. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, from his perspective, developed a theological problematic on the subject of healthy society. After distinguishing between the broader secular society and the society inspired by the Eucharist and the vision of the Heavenly Kingdom, he recalled that according to the late Metropolitan John D. Zizioulas of Pergamon, the Eucharist cannot be exclusive, while referring to “living according to Christ” as presented in the Epistle to Diognetus (2nd century AD) or in texts by Saint Maximus the Confessor, he did not fail to point out in the conclusion of his speech that “the healthy society as it was roughly and ideally described, has no relation to our experience from the ecclesiastical sphere, nor from the sphere of politics. We must, however, recognize that in the latter area, significant progress have been made towards meritocracy, transparency, accountability, respect for human rights and inclusiveness; while the ecclesiastical world, when it doesn’t stubbornly refuse any step forward, follows the secular society panting. But if the ecclesiastical community is not or does not try to be healthy, then it cannot assist the secular society. A sick, unhealthy ecclesiastical community cannot preach lessons to the wider society, as it lags behind in the field of action, the field which is the most important from an ecclesiastical point of view. It is also obvious that the secular society and the society or the community inspired by the Kingdom of God are in a relationship of tension, but also of interaction and mutual enrichment. The same happens in the relationship between eschatology and history, but also in the paradoxical conflicting position of the Christians in the world, who experience the tension between the Heavenly Kingdom and the demands of the earthly homeland, of worldly society, the dialectic, in other words, between present and future, between affirmation and negation of the world.”

The conference continued with interesting presentations and group work, the program of which can be found here On Friday, October 31, Apostolos Barlos, educational associate of the Academy, moderated the session on “Child Abuse and Aggression”, the speaker being Evangelia Amirali, M.D., Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Associate Professor at the University of Montreal in Canada.

On Saturday, in the last session, after a fruitful discussion among all the participants, the conclusions emerging from the conference work were formulated. In the evening of Saturday, November 1, the Festal Vespers was held at the Church of Saint Fanourios, in the Old Town of Rhodes, officiated by His Eminence Kyrillos, Metropolitan of Rhodes; he also officiated the concluding Divine Liturgy of the Conference on Sunday, November 2, at the Church of the Annunciation in Rhodes.

More about the Network of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Pastoral Health Care as well as about the 6th Conference of Rhodes is available here