The Eastern Catholic Church in Contemporary Europe: Conference

Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College - 18-19 January 2012 

 18 January from 10 am in the the Marie Eugenie Room

• Introduction Anthony O’Mahony and Lucian Leustean
• The Slovak Greek Church Simon Marincak
• The Romanian Greek Catholic Church Lucian Leustean and Ciprian Ghisa
• The Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church Daniela Kalkandijeva
• The Armenian Catholic Church in contemporary Europe John Whooley
• Eastern Byzantine Catholicism in Greece and Turkey  Anthony O’Mahony

19 January from 10 am in the the Marie Eugenie Room

• Eastern Catholics in Georgia John Flannery
• Eastern Catholicism in Russia  Stefanie High-Donovan
• The Eastern Catholic Diaspora in contemporary Europe: context and challenges Robin Gibbons
• The Italian Albanians: the Greek Catholic (Byzantine) Church in modern Italy Anthony O’Mahony
• Plenary Discussion

From 5.15-6.45 in the Chapel of Maria Assunta

• Melkite Greek Catholic Liturgy in the Chapel By kind permission of the Sisters of the Assumption

The Eastern Catholic Churches are a significant expression of the diversity of Catholicism in the modern world. Situated between two branches of Christianity, the Eastern and the Roman Catholic, they are to be found in Europe, the Middle East and India and as a growing diaspora community in North/South America and Australia. Eastern Catholicism in Europe is an important marker of the contemporary religious identity of the continent. Often referred to as ‘Churches in-between’, they have a distinct ecclesial, religious and social identity in Europe today. The frontiers of the West are often religious borders with Eastern Christendom; it is not without significance that it is a German pontiff Benedict XVI who, conscious that the future of Christianity in the new emerging Europe will depend upon a rapprochement between Eastern and Western Churches as the political and economic union of the continent marches eastwards. Predominately Eastern Orthodox states such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Romania are now part of the EU, and many other states have significant Eastern Christians communities, and in particular Eastern Catholic minorities which together number some millions, as for example in Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, and the Ukraine.

The Italian historian Roberto Morozzo della Rocca, has characterized their situation thus: ‘The History of the Eastern Catholic churches in Europe in the twentieth century suffers from the consequences of their geographical location on the boundaries of different civilizations and in areas of bitter ethnic and ideological conflicts. In the first half of the twentieth century, the Greek-Catholic churches endeavoured to safeguard their identity in the clash of nations and the types of nationalism which characterized the lands in which they existed. On the other hand, in the second half of the century, they resisted the harsh treatment, confronting the desire for the annihilation and the persecutions carried out by the communist regimes against Catholicism and especially Eastern-rite Catholicism. The destiny of Greek Catholics in the Europe of the “brief century” is marked by great suffering and tenacious struggles for survival in really difficult historical contexts’.

The Conference will explore the various ecclesial and religious contexts of Eastern Catholicism in modern history and contemporary contexts from a wide range of perspectives. The proceedings of the Conference, together with other papers not presented, will be published as ‘Eastern Catholic Christianity in Contemporary Europe’, 1st November 2012 by Routledge, London, in the Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415699129/


Registration is required and a contribution of £20 towards the Centre’s costs is payable on the day. Meals are not included but may be purchased in the College Restaurant.

Registration and enquiries: j.flannery@heythrop.ac.uk











Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London W8 5HN.