An International Conference and honorary event was successfully held on November 20-22, 2015 in Volos (Melissatika) on the general theme “Metropolitan of Diokleia Kallistos Ware and the witness of Orthodoxy in the West”.

In the first afternoon session of the first day of the conference, after a brief greeting by the Director of the Volos Academy Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis and under his moderation, the first speaker, Dr. Niki Tsironis, (Institute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Greece) presented a paper on the topic “Metropolitan Kallistos Ware: A bridge between Time and Timelessness; A Bridge between History and Theology.” In her presentation, the speaker was referred to specific examples from the work of Metropolitan Kallistos (such as his conception of personhood based on the holy Trinity as opposed to the individual, the perception of the body in terms of a holistic understanding of human being, etc.) to justify her understanding that Kallistos Ware by his personality and work constitutes a bridge between time and timelessness, history and theology.

Dr. Dimitrios Moschos, (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Theology, University of Athens, Member of the Board of the Directors of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Greece) spoke on the topic “Metropolitan Kallistos Ware as a historian of the Eastern Orthodox Church.” According to the speaker, Μetropolitan Kallistos’s work includes a great variety of historical studies and especially his extensive monograph on Eustratios Argenti and Orthodoxy in the 18th century. His most important contribution, however beyond the purely historical information, is that while he worked with emblematic periods and themes during the long military dispute between the Orthodox East and the (mostly Roman Catholic) West, his evaluation was neither neutral nor polemic in his approach.The basic characteristic of his historical research is his effort to introduce the history of the Orthodox Church in a world dominated by a very different worldview.This concern for the evangelization of the Western world renders his historical approach, despite the high level academic and scholarly standards, that characterize the British academic context, an inclusive interpretation of the whole Church and the European culture, not just the West. Metropolitan Kallistos sets the conditions for the overcoming of the sterile isolationist and war rhetoric between East and West without rendering the scholarly work in the East a mere appendage of the historical problematic of the West. It thus becomes in a sense a special kind of a “postcolonial” historical narrative.

In the second afternoon session moderated by Professor Ivana Noble, Rev. Dr. Andreas Andreopoulos, (Reader in Orthodox Christianity, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Winchester University, UK) presented the theme “Metropolitan Kallistos Ware and the Patristic Studies.” Metropolitan Kallistos has affected as few theologians the contemporary Orthodox thought. One way to discern his contribution is through the way he studied the patristic tradition and assimilated it dynamically into the modern theological theory and practice.Although he wrote many ad hoc patristic studies one could find even more interesting his continuous dialogue with the patristic heritage, and the way he linked the Patristic thought with the modern age and its problems. On the other hand, by trying to evaluate the overall work of Metropolitan Kallistos, the speaker distinguishes a historiographical perspective of the past, allowing him to connect the theme of each season with the broader political and cultural context. Metropolitan Kallistos reminds us with his work that Patristic Studies is not a study of the past, but the continuous research for the mind of the Church.

Dr. Norman Russell, (Honorary Research Fellow, St. Stephen’s House, Oxford, UK) (en absentia. Due to a serious family problem his lecture was read by Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards) spoke on the topic “Metropolitan Kallistos Ware as a Dogmatic Theologian.” Dogmatic theology as a discipline entered the Orthodox world from the West in the nineteenth century. P. Trembelas’ Dogmatiki, a work written in this tradition, was adversely reviewed by Kallistos Ware as triumphalist in tone and Scholastic in method. Metropolitan Kallistos is an early representative of the new mode of Orthodox dogmatic theology initiated by Russian theologians of the Paris School. His first book, The Orthodox Church (1963), lays down the fundamental lines that will characterize all his subsequent work: not intellectualist but experiential, not polemical but irenic, not apologetic but mystical. Finally, the chief characteristics of Metropolitan Kallistos as a dogmatic theologian are summed up as his lack of dogmatism, his irenic stance, and his apophatic emphasis.

During the first session of second day of the conference after the morning divine Liturgy at the Church St. Constantine and Helen, Volos on the occassion of the feast of the Presentation of Theotokos, moderated by the Professor of the University of Athens and member of Board of Directors the Volos Academy for Theological Studies Arch. Gregorios Papathomas, the first speaker Bishop of Ebbsfleet Dr. Jonathan Goodall (Church of England) spoke on “Metropolitan Kallistos Ware and the Ecumenical Movement.” According to the speaker from his early adulthood Bishop Kallistos has been concerned with the relation between churches, and the witness that each gives to God’s self-revelation and their experience of God in their midst.  As he immersed himself in university teaching, parochial service, and ecumenical encounter, he developed an integrated way of addressing the needs of Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike.  When he engaged in the most formal ecumenical dialogue, or in fellowships dedicated to ecumenical rapprochement, in writing or speaking, he did so faithful to the fullness of Orthodox faith, and its history and practice, but with deep knowledge of other Christian traditions and a radical openness and willingness to exchange.  The next speaker Dr. Dimitri Economou, (Musicologist, Visitor Professor, University of London, UK) presented a paper on “Metropolitan Kallistos Ware and the presence of Orthodoxy in Great Britain.” In his writings and lectures about orthodoxy in the United Kingdom, Metropolitan of Diokleia Kallistos Ware distinguishes five major issues. These are: a) The Orthodox diaspora in Britain as a challenge and opportunity; b) the need for unity among the Orthodox churches in Britain; c) the importance of the Orthodox witness both to other Christian traditions as well as to non-Christians; d) The challenge of maintaining the faith among the generations of those who are born in Britain; e) the importance of education, and the ordination of clergy who were born in the UK and Ireland. Dr. Marcus Plested, (Associate Professor, Department of Theology, Marquette University, USA) spoke about “Orthodoxy and the West in Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s thought.” Metropolitan Kallistos has not only been a great witness to Orthodoxy in the West but he has also born witness to the underlying harmony of East and West in his life and work. In this lecture, his approach to the schism between Greek East and Latin West, his contribution to the Ecumenical movement, and his analysis of theological developments in the post-schism West was briefly discussed.

In the second morning session, moderated by Mr. Nikolaos Asproulis, Dr. Petros Vassiliadis, (Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Theology, University of Thessaloniki, Greece) presented a paper on the topic “The anthropological thought of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware and the issue of ordination of women.” Professor Petros Vassiliadis’s presentation was revolved around the contribution of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware to two issues: the Christian anthropology and the issue of the ordination of women. Metropolitan Kallistos is the first Orthodox theologian who stressed the importance of anthropology for the future of Orthodox theology, speaking about the need of turning the theological research from ecclesiology to anthropology.As regards the burning issue of the ordination of women a reference is made to Metropolitan Kallistos’s study on Women and the Priesthood, as well as to his bold initiative to co-publish with Elisabeth Behr-Sigel the book entitled The Ordination of Women in the Orthodox Church, in which, he states that “On the subject of women and the priesthood, there exists as yet no pan-Orthodox statement, possessing definitive ecumenical authority.”. Furthermore the paper was focused on the findings of a recent international conference on the theme, the starting point of which was the restatement of the primary theological positions of Metropolitan Kallistos.Dr. Symeon Paschalidis, (Professor, Department of Pastoral and Social Theology, Faculty of Theology, University of Thessaloniki, Greece) spoke about “Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s theology on personhood.” According to the speaker, one of the key issues addressed by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, is personhood, as defined by baseline reference to intrapersonal and interpersonal relations in the field of Triadology. In a number of studies and articles Metropolitan Kallistos has discussed extensively this issue, taking advantage of the biblical background and theology of the great Fathers of East and West, but also writers after the Schism, reaching a fruitful dialogue even with the modern philosophical thought.In the first afternoon session moderated by Panagiotis Skaltsis (President, Department of Theology, Professor of Liturgics, Faculty of Theology, University of Thessaloniki), the first speaker Nikolaos Asproulis, (Mth., PhD candidate, Academic Associate of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies and the journal Theologia, Greece) presented a paper on the topic “Metropolitan Kallistos Ware between Neopatristic synthesis and Russian Religious Renaissance.” In this presentation an attempt was made to show that the person and work of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, constitutes a representative example of a possible synthesis of the two main trends of the 20th century Orthodox theology. Although, until recently the neo-patristic synthesis and the Russian Religious Renaissance were regarded as two absolutely incompatible trends, the methodology that is followed by Metropolitan Kallistos and his specific selection of issues, witness for the possibility to combine the basic expressions and perceptions of the two currents.

Dr. Ekaterini Tsalampouni, (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Theology, University of Thessaloniki, Greece) spoke on the “Eco-theological Aspects in Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s work.”The paper presented the main points of Kallistos Ware’s theological contribution to the current theological discussion about environment, man’s relation to the rest of the creation and their place in it. The honoured bishop belongs to a small group of Orthodox theologians who dealt with the so-called “ecological theology”. They fruitfully contributed to it by proposing models that could describe the relation of human beings to the rest of the creation inspired by the Orthodox tradition (main features of these contributions: man as the priest of creation, ascetic ethos and the Eucharistic experience of the Orthodox Church). In the sixth and final session of the conference moderated by Professor Symeon Paschalidis, Dr. Ivana Noble, (Professor of Ecumenical Theology, Protestant Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) spoke on “The Reception of Philokalia, the Meaning of Prayer, and the Neptic Tradition in the Work of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware.” This presentation was concentrated on Metropolitan Kallistos’s way of translating the Philokalic tradition into language accessible to Christians living in the Western world. It also showed the importance of the fact that Metropolitan Kallistos introduces the themes of relationship to the spiritual guide, watchfulness (nepsis), stillness (hesychia), and the invocation of the name of Jesus. This translation, or more exactly, appropriation, aims at opening the tradition not as something exotic, but as something that can organically belong to current Western culture. On the critical side, it also asked how this great contribution of Metropolitan Kallistos as a teacher is related to the role of a searcher, how the theology of light and of the divine presence can speak to people with a profound experience of the divine darkness and absence in their contemplative life. BrotherLuigi d'Ayala Valva, (Bose Monastery, Milan, Italy) presented a paper on “Monasticism and Monastic Tradition in the work of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware.” The paper, written by a member of a western monastic community which during the last two decades received great benefit by the spiritual teachings of Metropolitan Kallistos, aims to sketch a synthetic outlook of the conception of monastic life and tradition according to the writings of Metropolitan Kallistos. After highlighting the particular and historical factors that have contributed to fashion his monastic theology (e. g. the study of ancient monastic literature, the direct and personal experience and knowledge of orthodox monasticism, etc.), the paper underlined the main interpretative categories by which Metropolitan Kallistos has presented monastic life in his theological work: 1) “Sacrament of love”: a life according to the Gospel which finds its source in Holy Baptism; 2) “Prophecy of Kingdom”: an eschatological life with an essential “hesychastic” and “mystical” core; 3) “Way of continual repentance”: a life of ascetic and “kenotic” struggle in order to attain metamorphosis; 4) “Inner and Continual prayer”: a loving service at the heart of humanity.

After the conclusion of the conference the “Reception of His Eminence Metropolitan of Diokleia Kallistos (Ware) as Fellow of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies took place at the auditorium of the Thessalia conference center. After the Performance of Byzantine ecclesiastical hymns by the Byzantine choir of the Association of Chanters of Volos, greetings were read by a. His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (read by Metropolitan of Kitrous, Katerinis, and Platamona, Georgios), b. by the acting Dean of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Athens, Professor Georgios Filias (read by Dimitrios Moschos Assistant Professor, Faculty of Theology, University of Athens, Member of the Board of the Directors of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Greece) and c. by the Dean of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Thessaloniki, Professor Miltiadis Konstantinou (read by Panagiotis Skaltsis President, Department of Theology Professor of Liturgics, Faculty of Theology, University of Thessaloniki).

Then Metropolitan of Dimitrias Ignatius spoke on “The Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia as an ecclesiastical and theological figure” (click here for greek) where he briefly presented aspects of ecclesiastical and theological work of the honoured hierarch.Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, the Director of the Academy for Theological Studies presented the Academic Laudatio for Metropolitan Kallistos, where he highlighted some central contours of his thought, such as the panorthodox unity, the overcoming of the spirit of nationalism, the synthesis between Neo-patristic synthesis and Russian Religious Renaissance etc, followed by the Awarding of the Great Cross and Honorary Diploma of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies to His Eminence Metropolitan of Diokleia Kallistos Ware.

In the key-note address by the Honored Hierarch on the subject “The Witness of Orthodoxy in the West: What can we contribute and what can we learn,” Kallistos Ware attempted to reply to the question “What have we Orthodox to contribute to the Christian life of the West, and what have we to learn from Western Christians?”   by giving special attention to the following three areas: 1. Creation. Orthodoxy has a strong sense of the sacredness of the material creation. The world is a sacrament of the divine presence. We are ‘panentheists’, seeing God in all things and all things in God. This has important consequences for our Orthodox involvement in the realm of ecology. 2. Celebration. We Orthodox can share with our Western brothers and sisters our understanding of the Divine Liturgy and of the other church services as ‘heaven on earth’. Along with our Eucharistic experience, we are called likewise to share with the West our mystical tradition (the Philokalia, the Jesus Prayer). 3. Coinherence. We Orthodox are also able to bear witness in the West to the decisive meaning of the doctrine of the Trinity. ‘The being of God is relational being; without the concept of communion it would not be possible to speak of the meaning of God’ (Metropolitan John Zizioulas). Closely related to this is our Orthodox faith in the risen Christ.

The honorary event concluded with the Wishing “Many Years” to the Metropolitan of Diokleia Kallistos. On Sunday the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the St. Nikolaos Cathedral Church, Volos, where Metropolitan Kallistos also preached.

The conference and the honorary event was attended by the Metropolitan of Kitrous, Katerini and Platamonas, Georgios, representing His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Metropolitan of Thessaliotida and Phanareopharsala Timotheos, Professor Panagiotis Skaltsis, President of the Department of Theology at the Theological Faculty of Aristotle University, Professor Theodoros Yangou, Professor of the Department of Pastoral and Social Theology of the University of Thessaloniki, students of the same faculty and professors of the Theological School of Athens, and a great number of priests, monks, nuns and lay people.