From May 29th to June 2nd, 2017, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited Germany, on the occasion of the 500th  anniversary commemoration of the Protestant Reformation. A detailed chronicle of the visit of His All-Holiness is published on the blog “Fos Fanarion”: http://fanarion.blogspot.de/2017/06/29-2-2017.

On the afternoon of May 29th, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew who holds a primacy of honour in Eastern Orthodoxy celebrated the Orthodox vespers at the Stiftskirche Evangelical Church in Stuttgart, attended by Metropolitan Augustinos of Germany, all the members of the patriarchal accompaniment, other members of the Orthodox Episcopal Assembly of Germany, the Prelate of the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD) and the Lutheran bishop of Bavaria, Professor Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, as well as other Protestant bishops and other high representatives of the Evangelical Church, all the members of the Evangelical delegation in the bilateral dialogue between the Evangelical Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and a large number of clergy and lay people.

At the end of the vespers and after completing his welcoming address to His All-Holiness, the Prelate of the Evangelical Church of Germany offered him the Greek translation of the “Dictionary of the bilateral theological dialogue between the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD) and the Eastern Orthodox Churches (1959-2013), authored by the Professors Reinhard Thöle and Martin Illert. The book, which was first published in German in 2014, and has already been translated into Russian and Romanian, was recently published in Greek by Volos Academy Publications (“Ekdotiki Demetriados,” an imprint of Volos Academy for Theological Studies), technically edited by Costis Drygiannakis and with cover photos by Olya Gluschenko. The Greek translation was conducted by Mr. Georgios Vlantis, Director of the Council of Christian Churches in Bavaria and Academic Associate of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies.

During the ceremony in Stuttgart, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm who delivered the book to His All-Holiness, was accompanied by both the translator and the Director of Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis. Ecumenical Patriarch expressed his thanks and congratulations for the publication.

During the reception that followed, Dr. Kalaitzidis offered also to His-All Holiness a copy of the recently published collective volume by Volos Academy Publications entitled, “Personhood, Eucharist and Kingdom of God in an Orthodox and Ecumenical Perspective. Synaxis Efcharistias in honour of Metropolitan of Pergamon John D. Zizioulas,” co-edited by Pantelis Kalaitzidis and Nikolaos Asproulis. This collective volume contains the proceedings of the conference held in Volos on 28-30 October 2011, on the occasion of the reception of His Eminence Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon, a chief representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as a Honorary Fellow of Volos Academy for Theological Studies.

Both Kalaitzidis and Vlantis, but also Dr. Christos Karakolis, member of the Board of Directors of Volos Academy for Theological Studies, and Associate Professor of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Athens, attended the ceremony of the reception of His-All Holiness as a honorary Doctor of the Evangelical Theological Faculty of the University of Tubingen, which took place at the Stiftskirche cathedral of the famous university city. In the context of this ceremony, Ecumenical Patriarch delivered a groundbreaking speech on the relationship between Orthodoxy and Protestantism, impressing the audience with both his knowledge of German language and with the profundity of the meanings and the determination by which he expressed himself in favour of the theologically responsible and dialogical openness of Orthodoxy. In the context of the subsequent reception, the Prelate of the Evangelical Church of Germany offered to His-All Holiness the manuscript of the German translation of the book under publication authored by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew “Encountering the Mystery,” prepared by Mrs. Renate Sbeghen, and edited by Mr. Vlantis.

All the members representing Volos Academy (Kalaitzidis, Karakolis and Vlantis) participated also in the conference taken place at the University of Tubingen, between Evangelical and Orthodox Theologians, on the general theme: “Tubingen 2: Freedom from an Evangelical and Orthodox point of view” (30-31 May, 2017)