Τhe International Conference on “Political Orthodoxy and Totalitarianism in a post-Communist Era,” which will be held May 28-31, 2015, in Helsinki, Finland, and is being organized by the Volos Academy for Theological Studies in cooperation with the Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University (New York, USA); the Chair of Orthodox Theology, Münster University (Germany); the Romanian Institute for Inter-Orthodox, Inter-Confessional and Inter-Religious Studies (INTER, Cluj-Napoca, Romania); the St Andrews Biblical Theological Institute (Moscow); the Institute for the Study of Culture and Christianity (Belgrade, Serbia); the Sankt Ignatios Orthodox Theological Academy (Stockholm, Sweden); and the European Forum of the Orthodox Schools of Theology (EFOST, Brussels), with the support of the Orthodox Metropolis of Helsinki.

Brief Description    

The conference intends to deal with issues related to totalitarianism, the demand for freedom and democracy, the concept and the reality of “Political Orthodoxy,” and the current position of the Orthodox Church within the context of the post-communist era, with the main, but not exclusive, focus on Eastern and Central Europe. Among the issues to be addressed are the relationship between Orthodoxy and Democracy, Orthodoxy and human rights, Orthodoxy and political liberalism, secularism, theological education, religious, national, and cultural pluralism and the challenges that these diverse realities pose to the Orthodox Church and its theological discourse concerning its self- understanding. The conference will also highlight the position and the often ambivalent involvement of the Orthodox Church in different situations and recent conflicts, such as those in, among others, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Syria and Egypt.

For more information about the program and various details of the conference and also about issues related to the process and the means of participating in it, one may visit from time to time the official website of the conference: www.helsinki2015.com, and the website of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies: www.acadimia.org, which will be periodically updated with new material.

To read the Final Program and Timetable of the Helsinki Conference, click here.