The Society is closely linked with the Centre for Eastern Christianity, established in Spring 2010 at Heythrop College, the specialist Theology and Philosophy College in the University of London. The inaugural conference, to mark the 15th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen, was co-sponsored by the Society, in partnership with Minster Abbey's annual series of East-West Monastic Meetings and the Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies at Cambridge.
For most events there is no charge, and all are welcome. Principal Conferences and Events are listed below and on our Eventbrite page (press the button):
To contact the Centre:
Anthony O'Mahony
Director, Centre for Eastern Christianity
Heythrop College
University of London
Kensington Square
London W8 5HN
020 7795 4258
Or -
Dr John Flannery
Administrator, Centre for Eastern Christianity
Heythrop College
University of London
Kensington Square
London W8 5HN
020 7795 4258
2016
*Friday 17th and Saturday 18th June
Joint Conference of the Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London and the Living Stones of the Holy Land Trust in association with the Centre for World Christianity, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London
Bellarmine Room, Heythrop College, University of London
Friday - Christianity in Iraq: Present challenges and future perspectives
- 11:00-12:30 - Erica Hunter (School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London), Suha Rassam (ICIN), Kristian Girling (Heythrop College, University of London)
Coptic Christianity in contemporary Egypt
- 13:15-14:15 - Mariz Tadros Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex)
The Armenian Church and Tradition Today
- 14:15-15:15 - Rev. Vrej Nersessian (Emeritus, Oriental Department, British Library)
Syriac Christianity in the modern Middle East
- 15:45-16:45 - Sebastian Brock (The Oriental Institute, University of Oxford)
Reflections on Eastern Christianity and Muslim-Christian relations in Syria - a western Christian perspective
- 16:45-17:30 - Revd. Andrew Ashdown (Theology Group, Living Stones of the Holy Land Trust)
Saturday - Christianity in Syria: Present challenges and future perspectives
- 10:30-12:00 - Rev. Nadim Nassar and Huda Nassar (Awareness Foundation & Theology Group, Living Stones of the Holy Land Trust),
One More Bridge to cross: Syrian Refugees in Greece on their Way to Paradise
- 12:10-13:00 - Gerasimos Makris (Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the Panteion University, Athens)
Christianity in the Holy Land
- 13:45-14:45 - Sr Bridget Tighe FMDM
Christian churches in Jordan: political, religious and communal context
- 15:00-15:50 - Paolo Maggiolini (Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI) and the Catholic University of Milan)
Christianity in Jerusalem: social relations, border makings and their crossing
- 16:00-16:40 - Georgious Tsourous (School of Anthropology, University of Kent)
The Future of Christianity in the Middle East
- 16:40-17:30 - Hratch Tchilingirian (The Oriental Institute, University of Oxford); Anthony O'Mahony, (Heythrop College, University of London
*January - March
Eastern Christianity in the Middle East - A series of 6 lectures by ANTHONY O’MAHONY
at Department of Continuing Education, University of Oxford
This series of lectures explores the traditions, histories and contemporary context of Eastern Christianity in the Middle East. The modern Middle East has been a challenging environment for Christians and their churches – a period marked by the ending of the Ottoman Empire, colonialism and the creation of nation states; by genocide and displacement, interreligious conflict. Christianity in the Middle East is complex and diverse, characterized by deep and rich religious and spiritual resources – Armenian, Coptic, Syriac. Despite challenges the Christian churches in the region have responded beyond survival with a profound and significant contribution to theology, spirituality and dialogue between religions.
THURSDAYS 11.00AM - 12.30PM (10.30am - first week only: Registration at Rewley House Reception)
28 January - Eastern Christianity in the Middle East – ancient traditions, modern histories, contemporary challenges
4 February - Between the desert and the world: Coptic Christianity in modern Egypt
18 February - Tradition at the heart of renewal: monasticism and spirituality in the Middle East today
3 March - Christianity and Jerusalem: The question of identity, religion and the politics of presence in the Holy Land
*Research Study Day, 14th January
Eastern Christianity: modern histories theologies and contemporary contexts
- 10.30-11.00: Arrive and Introduction
- 11.00 – 11.45: Nikodemos Anagnostopoulos St.Mary’s College: “The development of the Ecclesiology and the Political Theology of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople and the Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church in response to
Muslim-Christian relations in the contemporary context of modern Greece and
Turkey until 2014’.
- 12.00 – 12.30: Kristian Girling, Heythrop College: "The Chaldean Catholic Church: A study in modern history, ecclesiology and church-state relations (2003-2013)".
- 12.30 – 13.15: David Derrick, Heythrop College: “Kenneth Cragg, Charles Malik and Dag Hammarskjöld – some thoughts on the question of mysticism and the `public square’”
- 13.15-14.00: Lunch Break
- 14.00 – 14.45: Stefanie Hugh-Donovan, Heythrop College: ‘Olivier Clément:
French Thinker and Theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church in dialogue
with Western Catholic Thought on Ecclesiology, Theology and the Identity of
Europe’.
- 14.45-15.30: Peter Colwell, CTBi and Heythrop College: “Reflections on Arab Christian Political and Theological Thought in the modern Holy land”
- 15.30-16.00 Break
- 16.00-16.45: Anthony O’Mahony, Heythrop College: “The Desert Fathers of modern Egypt: The Theological Exchange between Shenouda III and Matta el Meskin”
Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London W8 5HN. All are welcome. Details from Dr John Flannery - j.flannery@heythrop.ac.uk. www.heythrop.ac.uk - www.orientalelumen.org.uk
* Special Guest Lecture, 14th January, 5pm
"The ties of ‘homeland’ and adapting to new places: Middle Eastern Christian communities in the UK” - Dr. Fiona McCallum,
Lecturer in International Relations at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Her research focuses primarily on the political role of Christian communities in the contemporary Middle East. This includes government integration policies towards Christian communities, identity issues, Christian political participation in the region, Muslim-Christian relations, religious leadership and diaspora. She is the author of Christian Religious Leadership in the Middle East: The Political Role of the Patriarch, Edwin Mellen Press, 2010; "Religious Institutions and Authoritarian States: Church-State Relations in the Middle East", Third World Quarterly, 33 (2010); "Christian Political Participation in the Arab World", Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 23 (2012); "Desert Roots and Global Branches: the Journey of the Coptic Orthodox Church", Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, 7 (2006); Muslim-Christian Relations in Egypt: Challenges for the Twenty-First Century", in Christian Responses to Islam: Muslim-Christian Relations in the Modern World, Manchester University Press, 2008; "The Maronite Patriarch in the Contemporary Era – Tradition and Challenges", in Eastern Christianity: Studies in Modern History, Religion and Politics (London, Routledge, 2010.She is currently leading a collaborative interdisciplinary project funded by the European Union entitled ‘Defining and Identifying Middle Eastern Christian Communities in Europe’ with partners from Denmark, Poland and Belgium. Dr.McCallum is Visiting Research Fellow Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London.
All welcome. Details from Dr John Flannery - j.flannery@heythrop.ac.uk, www.heythrop.ac.uk, www.orientalelumen.org.uk
All welcome. Details from Dr John Flannery - j.flannery@heythrop.ac.uk, www.heythrop.ac.uk, www.orientalelumen.org.uk
*19th September - Christianity in the Middle East Today
At Department of Continuing Education, University of Oxford, A day school to be held at Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square Oxford
The Middle East is the place of origin of Christianity. Middle Eastern Christianity, despite being a small part of Global Christianity, less than one per cent, has significance and importance for the wider Christian tradition. The ecclesial context is one of great complexity. The churches of the Middle East can be grouped into five families - Oriental Orthodox; Eastern Orthodox; ‘Assyrian’ Church of the East; Oriental and Eastern Catholic; Anglican and Protestant. Today Christianity in the Middle East faces numerous challenges – civil war, interreligious conflict, migration and exile. This is only part of the story. Middle East Christianity is a lively and rich spiritual community which is creating new theological and political thought, ecumenical conviviality and monastic revival. This study day begins with an introduction to the main historical, political and religious currents which provide the context for Christianity in the Middle East today; engages with Armenian Christianity in Western Asia; Eastern Christianity in Iraq; the theological and political context for Christians in the Holy Land; and the growing presence of Middle Eastern Christians in Europe due to displacement and conflict in the region and the challenges and opportunities it provokes.
- Christianity in the Middle East: an introduction and overview, 10 am
ANTHONY O’MAHONY - is Reader in the History of Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London and a Research Fellow at Blackfriars, University of Oxford.
- The Armenian Church: modern history and contemporary situation
HRATCH TCHILINGIRIAN is a Faculty Associate at The Oriental Institute, University of Oxford
- Eastern Christianity in modern Iraq, 11-50 am
KRISTIAN GIRLING s a Researcher at the Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London
- Middle East Christians in Europe today – migration, diaspora and new beginnings - 2pm
FIONA MCCALLUM is lecturer in Religion and Politics, Department of International Relations, at the University of St. Andrews.
- Christianity in the Holy Land: political and theological challenges - 3-50 pm
PETER COLWELL is Deputy General Secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and Researcher at Heythrop College, University of London
*February 28th
Christianity in the Middle East: present challenges and future possibilities
Jointly convened by the British Trust for Tantur and the Centre for Eastern Christianity
10.30 arrivals and coffee and registration. From 11 am to 1 pm
- Bishop Antoine Audo SJ Chaldean Bishop of Aleppo, Syria: Christianity in the Middle East: Present Challenges and Future Possibilities read through the Experience of Syria
- Response by Dr Suha Rassam
- Mariz Tadros University of Sussex: Coptic Christianity in Egypt Today
Lunch break (bring your own packed lunch, hot drinks provided), from 1-45 pm to 4-15 pm
- Revd Vrej Nersessian (Former Curator of Eastern Christian Collection The British Library): The Armenian Christian Tradition: history, theology and ecclesiology
- Anthony O’Mahony (Heythrop College, University of London): Christian Ecumenism in the Middle East past, present and future challenges to the Global Church
- Any Questions: panel with the speakers
All are welcome: Saturday 28th February 2015 , at University of Notre Dame London Centre, 1 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4HG (off Trafalgar Square)
*5th February
Eastern Catholics in the modern Middle East: Diaspora, Ecumenism and emerging identities
11 am to 1-15 pm
- A.O'Mahony (Heythrop College, University of London): "Introduction: Eastern Catholicism today between the Middle East, Europe and Diaspora – Challenges and Contexts"
- Robin Gibbons (Centre for Christianity & Culture, Regent’s College, University of Oxford & Visiting Fellow, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London): "The Melkite Catholic Church between the Middle East and the West: aspects of liturgy, pastoral theology, canon law and ecclesiology"
- Stefanie Hugh-Donovan (Heythrop College, University of London): "Olivier Clément: A European Theologian between Eastern and Western Christianity - a reflection on "the Antiochian Paradigm" for relations between Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, pointers from the Middle East for Europe today"
Lunch break (bring your own packed lunch, hot drinks provided). Then from 2 pm to 3-30 pm
- Joelle Richa (Heythrop College, University of London): "The Maronites: ermetical identity, spiritual renewal and the laity"
- Emily Tavcar: (Blackfriars, University of Oxford) "The Association of Hebrew Catholics and Hebrew Catholic Identity"
- John Whooley (Diocese of Westminster and Impendent Scholar): "The Armenian Catholic Church: Present Dilemmas"
- Kristian Girling (Heythrop College, University of London): "'How can I close the house of God?' Maintaining and consolidating the Chaldean Catholic Church 1914-2014: Ecclesiological, social and political perspectives"
All welcome. Coffee from 10-15 am. Friday 5th February, 2015
2014
* Michaelmas Term Study Session - "Dialogue and Exchange between the Oriental Orthodox and Catholic Traditions on Christology" - Revd. Nerses (Vrej) Nersessian formerly The British Library; Sebastian Brock, Emeritus Reader in Syriac Studies, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford; Johannes Hoff, Professor of Systematic Theology at Heythrop College; Anthony O’Mahony, Reader in the History of Christianity, Heythrop College - Tuesday 9th December, 4.00 -8.00 pm 2014.
* Michaelmas Term Four Tuesday Lecture Series - Dr Hratch Tchilingirian, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford - "The Armenian Church, Society and Politics" - Tuesdays 4th November, 2014 (Introduction: The Armenian Church, Past and Present); 11th November, 2014 (The Soviet Regime and the Decline of Church and Religion); 18th November, 2014 (The Soviet Regime and the Secularisation of the Church); 25th November, 2014 (Post-Soviet Social and Political Dislocation and "Return" of Religion) - 6.00-7.30 pm
* Ecumenical Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church in global context: Christology and theological renewal; Ecclesial Identity and Communion - Anthony O'Mahony, Reader in the History of Christianity, Heythrop College, Wednesday 19 November, 1630-1800
* Christianity in the Contemporary Middle East - The Life and Death of A Tradition? Day Conference, 1st November 2014, 9-30 am to 6 pm, Mathematical Institute, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG. Day Conference in collaboration with Las Casas Institute, Blackfriars, Oxford.
Christianity in the Middle East - an Introduction and Overview - Anthony O’Mahony, Heythrop College, University of London
Christianity in Iraq: present situation and future challenge - Professor Herman Teule, University of Louvain and Director, Institute for Eastern Christianity
Coptic Christianity in Egypt today: reconfiguring power, religion and politics - Dr Mariz Tadros, University of Sussex
Armenian Christianity in the Middle East - modern history and contemporary challenges - Dr Hratch Tchilingirian, Armenian Studies, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford
Erasing the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Greek Orthodox Christians in Turkey: Comparative lessons for Middle Eastern Christianity from the Turkish model of Religious Cleansing - Professor Elizabeth Prodromou, Tufts University, Former Commissioner and vice-chair US Commission on International Religious freedom 2004-2012 & currently US Secretary of State Working Group on Religion and Foreign Policy
£20 by cheque. To register please email Charlotte Redman: lascasas@bfriars.ox.ac.uk
* Michaelmas Term Special Guest Lecture - Professor Theo M.
van Lint, Calouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian Studies, Faculty of
Oriental Studies, at the University of Oxford - "For Whom the Bell Tolls: Death and Grace in John Donne's Devotions upon
Emergent Occasions and the Book of Lamentations by Grigor Narekac‘i" -
Tuesday, 28th October, 6.00 – 7.30
pm, 2014
* Special Guest Lecture: His Beatitude Gregorios III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East of the Greek Catholic Melkites - Saturday 12 July 2014, 11 am Loyola Room. All welcome.* Michael Prior Anniversary Academic Conference, with the Living Stones of the Holy Land Trust - Friday 11 July and Saturday 12 July, 2014
Speakers include: Naim Ateek, Ilan Pappé, Perry Gildea CM, Michael Kirwan SJ, Peter Miano, Anthony O'Mahony, Stephen Sizer, Huda Nassar, Don Wagner, Michael Marten, Sr Bridget Tighe, Suha Rassam, Mariam Tadros and Peter Colwell. The venue is the Loyola Room at Heythrop College. Daily fee, £20. Details of other speakers and of conference programme and arrangements are available on www.livingstonesonline.org.uk. Please register your interest by e‐mail to admin@livingstonesonline.org.uk
* Catholic perspectives on Ecumenical dialogue with Eastern Christianity in the Middle East - Monday 12 May at 7pm at Pusey House Oxford, OX1 3LZ
Anthony O'Mahony, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London
* Greek Orthodox Church in a turbulent Eastern Mediterranean, Wednesday 30th April 2014, 16.15 – 18.30
Dr. Sotiris Roussos, director of the Centre for Mediterranean, Middle East and Islamic Studies (CEMMIS), Department of Political Studies & International Relations University of Peloponnese. Roussos did his doctoral research at SOAS in 1994 Greece and the Middle East: The Greek Orthodox Communities in Egypt, Syria and Palestine, 1914-1940. He is a well-known scholar of the Greek Orthodox Church in the Middle East. His publications include: `The Greek Orthodox Community of Jerusalem in International Politics. International Solutions for Jerusalem and the Greek Orthodox Community in the 19th and 20th centuries’, in: Lee Levine (ed.), Jerusalem, Its Sanctity and Centrality to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Continuum Press, New York, 1999; `The Greek Orthodox tradition: International politics, ethnicity and theological development in the Middle East, in: Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, vol. 7, no 2 (Autumn/Winter 2005); `Τhe Emergence of Arab Nationalism and Greek Orthodox Church Networks in the Near East 1899-1947’, in: Minna Rozen, Maria Efthymiou (eds.), Homelands and Diasporas: Greeks, Jews and their Migrations, London, I. B. Tauris, 2007; `Diaspora Politics, Ethnicity and the Orthodox Church in the Near East Diaspora Politics, Ethnicity and the Orthodox Church in the Near East, in: The Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, Vol. 61, no.1-2, 2009; `The Greek Orthodox Church in Interwar Egypt: between Lay Constitutionalism and Diaspora Politics’, in: The Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, Vol. 63, no.1-2, 2011; "The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and Community of Jemsalem: Church, State and Identity", in The Christian Communities of Jerusalem and the Holy Land: Studies in History, Religion and Politics, edited by A. O'Mahony, 38-56. Cardiff: Univ. of Wales Press, 2003;"Patriarchs, Notables and Diplomats: The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the Modem Period." in Eastern Christianity: Studies in Modern History, Religion and Politics, edited by A.O'Mahony, London, Melisende 2004.
* Middle Eastern Christians in Europe: Faith, Identity and Integration’ - Wednesday 2nd April 2014, 14.30 - 16.30
Dr. Fiona McCallum, Lecturer in International Relations at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Her research focuses primarily on the political role of Christian communities in the contemporary Middle East. This includes government integration policies towards Christian communities, identity issues, Christian political participation in the region, Muslim-Christian relations, religious leadership and diaspora. She is the author of Christian Religious Leadership in the Middle East: The Political Role of the Patriarch, Edwin Mellen Press, 2010; "Religious Institutions and Authoritarian States: Church-State Relations in the Middle East", Third World Quarterly, 33 (2010); "Christian Political Participation in the Arab World", Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 23 (2012); "Desert Roots and Global Branches: the Journey of the Coptic Orthodox Church", Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, 7 (2006); Muslim-Christian Relations in Egypt: Challenges for the Twenty-First Century", in A O'Mahony, E Loosley (Eds.) Christian Responses to Islam: Muslim-Christian Relations in the Modern World, Manchester University Press, 2008; "The Maronite Patriarch in the Contemporary Era – Tradition and Challenges", in Anthony O’Mahony and Emma Loosley (Eds) Eastern Christianity: Studies in Modern History, Religion and Politics (London, Routledge, 2010.She is currently leading a collaborative interdisciplinary project funded by the European Union entitled ‘Defining and Identifying Middle Eastern Christian Communities in Europe’ with partners from Denmark, Poland and Belgium.
The Bellarmine Room, Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London W8 5HN. All are welcome.
* The Life and Times of Cardinal Iuliu Hossu: The metamorphoses of a ministry: An episode in the Modern History of the Greek Catholic Church in Romania" - Thursday 27th March 2014, 17.30 - 19.30
- in the presence of Bishop Dr. Claudiu Pop, tit. Bishop of Mariamme, Major Archiepiscopal Curia Bishop
- First presentation - Rev. Dr. Eduard-William Fartan, Rector of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Mission in London, Head of the "Sources" Research Department, Center for Greek-Catholic Studies - Babes-Balyai University, Cluj-Napoca
- Second presentation - Dr. Sergiu Stoica, Researcher at the "Sources" Research Department, Center for Greek-Catholic Studies - Babes-Balyai University, Cluj-Napoca
The Bellarmine Room, Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London W8 5HN. All are welcome.
*What’s in a name? A conference to mark the
first anniversary of the election of Pope Francis - Saturday 15th March, 9-30 - 16-30
- Paul Rout OFM, Heythrop College, University of London - ‘A heart full of mercy…’ St Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis
- Scott Thomas, Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies, University of Bath; Research Fellow, Heythrop College, University of London - The challenge of living faithfully in the world: Pope Francis, the Catholic Church and global politics in the twenty-first century
- Cathy Corcoran, CEO, The Cardinal Hume Centre, Diocese of Westminster - A journey towards the horizon of hope...
- Anthony O’Mahony, Heythrop College, University of London - ‘That They Might be One’ [John 17:11]. Pope Francis, Jerusalem and the Eastern Christianity
- Damian Howard SJ, Heythrop College, University of London - Pope Francis, the Jesuit : Vicar of Christ, Companion of Jesus
- Gemma Simmonds CJ, Heythrop College, University of London - ‘Bruised, Hurting and Dirty’: the Church’s Evangelical Mission according to Pope Francis
The Eastern Catholic Tradition Today: Lent Term Series
Revd. Dr Robin Gibbons, Research Fellow, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London -
* Language, identity and inculturation in the Ukrainian Catholic Church - Wednesday, 19 February 2014, 3.00-5.00 pm
The Rt. Revd. Hlib Lonchyna, Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London.
* Towards a Theology of Diaspora: An Eastern Catholic Perspective - Wednesday 26 February 2014, 3.00-5.00 pm
Revd. Dr James Siemens, Director of the Theotokos Institute for Catholic and honorary research fellow at Cardiff University.
* The Eastern Greek Catholic Tradition: Divine Worship and Sacramental practice -Wednesday 5 March 2014, 3.00 - 5.00 pm (NB Rescheduled)
Revd. Dr Robin Gibbons, Research Fellow, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London
* The Greek-Italian Tradition: The Exarchic Monastery of Grottaferrata - date to be confirmed
Anthony O'Mahony, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London
* The Italian-Albanian Church in modern Italy: Eastern Catholic Ecclesiology Today - date to be confirmed
Anthony O'Mahony, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London
* Between Antioch and Rome: The Melkite Church and Ecumenism since Vatican II - date to be confirmed
Anthony O'Mahony, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London
2013
* Christians & Christianity in the Middle East - 21 September 2013
- Anthony O'Mahony, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London
- Bishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom
- Scott Thomas, University of Bath
- Leonard Marsh, Church of England Diocese of Southwark
A collaboration between British Trust for Tantur, Centre for Eastern Christianity (Heythrop), Churches Together in England, Churches Together in Britain & Ireland, and the University of Notre Dame. Download Booking Form here.
* "In Our Time” - An Exploration of the Dynamic Relationship between Christian Ecumenism and Inter Religious Dialogue, its opportunities and challenges in the 21st Century - 12 September 2013
Heythrop College, 23 Kensington Square, London W8 5HN - 11.00-16.00
- Revd Dr Keith Clements
- Dr Anthony O’Mahony
- Professor Peter Riddell
The Ecumenical Movement “Oikumene” refers both to the unity of all Christians and also of the reconciliation of the whole created order. Christians are called to pray for unity, and work so that the prayer of Jesus might be fulfilled “that they may be one”. However, with some of the enthusiasm for Christian unity dimmed and with some theologians speaking of “an ecumenical winter”, there has been some suggestion that the ecumenical endeavour has moved on and inter religious dialogue has become the fresh urgency. This thinking, however, may be misplaced. Inter religious dialogue, far from replacing ecumenism, is in fact a dynamic expression of the ecumenical movement that seeks not only the unity of all Christians but the reconciliation of all creation to God.
In this day conference, a collaboration between Churches Together in Britain & Ireland and the Centre for Eastern Christianity at Heythrop College, we shall be exploring this theme in greater depth. In particular we will consider the following questions:
- What is distinctive about Christian ecumenism and why does it matter?
- What does inter religious dialogue tell us about Christian (ecumenical) self-identity?
- How does current Christian thinking develop and resource itself in a context that is both religiously plural and ecumenical?
- How ecumenical approaches relate to bi-lateral dialogues between denominations and faiths.
For further information or to register your attendance, please contact Revd Peter Colwell peter.colwell@ctbi.org.uk
HE Kyr Hlib Lonchyna, Eparch of the Eparchy of the Holy Family of London
Marie Eugenie Room, 4pm. All are welcome. Further details from Dr John Flannery - j.flannery@heythrop.ac.uk
* Christianity in the Middle East: Modern history and contemporary context - Wednesday 22 May 2013
Anthony O’Mahony, Reader in the History of Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London
Newman Room, 2.30pm - 5pm. Open to all: no attendance charge. For further information, please contact j.flannery@heythrop.ac.uk
* Eastern Christianity Today: Studies in Modern History, Contemporary Theology and Political Thought - Wednesday 15 May 2013 - Day Conference
- The Changing Image of St. Ephrem in modern times - Sebastian Brock
- Church-State relations in the Soviet Republic of Armenia during the Catholicate of Gevorg VI Tchorekchian (1945-1954) and his successor Vazgen I Palchian (1955-1994) - Vrej Nersessian
- Shenouda III (1971-2012) and the Coptic Orthodox Church in modern Egypt: monasticism, ecclesial renewal, theology, ecumenism - Anthony O'Mahony
- The Chaldean Church in modern Iraq - Suha Rassam
- The Georgian Orthodox Church: modern history and contemporary context - John Flannery
Brinkman Room, 10.00am – 6.00pm. Conference Fee: £20 payable on the day. For further information, please contact j.flannery@heythrop.ac.uk
* The Armenian Christian Tradition: History, Doctrine, Spirituality and Liturgy
The Revd Dr Nerses Nersessian 30 January to 6 March 2013 Lecture Series
- The emergence of Armenia as a Christian state in the first half of the fourth century and the founding of the Armenian Church. 30 January 2013
- The Christology of the Armenian Church. The attitude of the Armenian Church to the first eight Ecumenical Councils. 6 February 2013
- Contacts and Initiatives for reunion between the Armenian, Greek and Roman Churches. The ecumenical approaches of Nerses IV Klayetsi, called Shnorhali (1102-1173) and Nerses Lambronatsi (1152--‐1198). 20 February 2013
- The Armenian Church under the political authority of Ottoman Turkey, Tsarist Russia, and the Soviet Union. 27 February 2013
- The meaning of the Divine Liturgy for the Armenian Christians.Followed by a celebration of the Armenian Divine Liturgy in the Chapel of Maria Assumpta Convent by kind permission of the Sisters and reception hosted by the Centre for Eastern Christianity and the Armenian community. 6 March 2013
2012
* Aspects of the Politics of Church and State in Modern Greece - Tuesday 13 November 4-6.30
* The Greek Orthodox Church and Muslim-Christian relations: some fractured vignettes from a sideshow - Tuesday 20 November 4-6.30
Associate Professor Gerasimos Makris, Panteion University, Athens, Greece: Research Fellow at the Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London
Gerasimos Makris has a special research interest in the Greek Orthodox Church and Christianity and Islam in the Arab World. His family origins are in the Greek community in the Middle East. Publications include:
- Changing Masters: Spirit Possession and Identity Construction among the Descendants of Slaves in the Sudan, Northwestern University Press, 2000;
- Islam in the Middle East: A Living Tradition, Blackwell, 2006;
- Islam: Practices, Beliefs and Trends (In Greek, enlarged edition), Patakis, 2012.
- ‘The Greek Orthodox Church in the Sudan” in O’Mahony, A. (ed.) Eastern Christianity: Studies in History, Politics and Religion, London, Melisende Press, 2004;
- with D. Oulis and S. Roussos, ‘The Orthodox Church of Greece: policies and challenges under Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens (1998–2008)’, International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, (Special Issue guest edited by Charles Miller & A.O’Mahony: ‘Orthodox churches in contemporary contexts’) vol. 10, (2010) nos. 2–3, 192–210;
- ‘The Greek Orthodox Church and Africa: Missions between the Light of Universalism and the Shadow of Nationalism’, Studies in World Christianity, vol. 16, (2010). no. 3, 245-267.
* The Melkite Church: living with and for others: dialogue of civilizations, dialogue of life - 6 November 2012
Gregorios III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Melkite Greek-Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham is based in Damascus. The Patriarch is the leader of the world-wide Melkite Church, which in the Middle East is mainly concentrated in Lebanon and Syria, although large communities live outside of the Middle East region, particularly in Europe, the United States and Canada, and also significant communities in Argentina and Brazil. Gregory III was elected patriarch on November 29, 2000, and might be considered one of the most important Christian leaders in Syria, the Middle East and the Catholic Church.
* The current situation of Christianity in the Middle East, especially Syria, after the Synod of the Middle East's Final Declaration (September 2012) and the Papal visit to Lebanon - 19 October 2013, 11-30 to 13-30
Antoine Audo SJ, Chaldean bishop of Aleppo
* The Life and Thought of Louis Massignon (1883-1962): Comparative political and theological perspectives - Tuesday 27 November 2012, the Marie Eugenie Room
- Louis Massignon's influence on the teaching of Vatican II on Muslims and Islam: Christian Krokus, University of Scranton
- Louis Massignon: The Prophet of Dialogue of Civilizations: Fabio Petito, University of Sussex
- Responding to Islam as Priests, Mystics and Trailblazers: Louis Massignon, Kenneth Cragg, and Rowan Williams: Richard Sudworth, Heythrop College, University of London
- Louis Massignon, Olivier Clément, Thomas Merton: Authenticity, Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue – a common bond, a common destiny: Stefanie Hugh Donovan, Heythrop
- Louis Massignon and Jerusalem: Political-Theology and the encounter Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Anthony O'Mahony, Heythrop College, University of London.
* Our Lady of the Wall: The Holy Land Icon Tradition from Origins to the Future - Wednesday 25th July 2012
Lecture and Presentation from Ian Knowles, Founder-Director of the Bethlehem Icon School
After 25 years as an iconographer in the UK (Elias Icons), Ian’s work took a new turn in 2008 when he restored the damaged wall paintings in the Orthodox Church of St Nicholas’ Cave at Beit Jala. This led to commissions for icons at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Mount, at Anjara in Jordan, a new sanctuary design for the Sacred Heart Church at Naur near Amman, and saving the wall paintings at Bethlehem University Chapel. His most extraordinary commission is The Virgin Mother of the Church icon, written at the behest of local Arab Christians on the Palestinian side of the Israeli separation wall. Better known as Our Lady of the Wall, it places the Sacred amid the graffiti alongside the people’s suffering, but in contrast to violence and injustice, in the hope of peace and reconciliation for all. Ian will tell this remarkable story and also bring news of the Bethlehem Icon School. Newly founded under the aegis of the Melkite Patriarchal Vicar, Archbishop Joseph Zerey in
Jerusalem, with the support of Tantur Ecumenical Institute, it will ensure that the indigenous Arab Christian icon tradition, now hanging on by a thread, is preserved in a new generation.
www.orientalelumen.org.uk – www.heythrop.ac.uk – www.bethlehemiconschool.org
* Eastern Christianity: modern and contemporary trends in theological and political thought -
Wednesday 27 June 2012
- Eastern Orthodoxy, Rowan Williams and Islam: Exploring the impact of Eastern Orthodoxy on Rowan Williams’ Anglican engagement with Islam: Richard Sudworth, Heythrop College
- Response by Charles Miller, Rector of Abingdon, Oxfordshire
- We brought it on ourselves: Greek Evangelical Perceptions of the Current Crisis: Gerasimos Makris, Panteion University, Athens
- Response by Scott Thomas, University of Bath
- Time to Rise up or Time to Lament our Sins? The Orthodox Church Response to the Greek Financial Crisis: Dimitrios Berkidakis, Panteion University, Athens
- Response by Scott Thomas, University of Bath
- The Orthodox Church and its Palestinian-Christian Identity: Leonard Marsh, Heythrop College
- Response by Mary Grey, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham
- Conscience and Freedom: Reflections on the thought of Olivier Clément: Stefanie Hugh-Donovan, Heythrop College
- The Russian Orthodox Church and Islam: Basil Cousins, Heythrop College
- The Georgian Orthodox Church: John Flannery, Heythrop College
* MICHAEL PRIOR 2012 MEMORIAL LECTURE: Living Stones of the Holy Land Trust
Peace and Justice: a Christian Viewpoint from the Holy Land - 13th June 2012
Reverend Doctor Raed Awad Deeb Abusahlia Born in Zababdeh in Palestine, Father Raed was ordained priest by the Latin Patriarch in 1990 and began his priestly ministry in parishes in Jordan. After completing higher studies in philosophy at the Lateran University in Rome, Father Raed served as Professor of Philosophy at the Latin Seminary at Beit Jala and as Chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, until appointed parish priest of the Latin Church in Taybeh (biblical Ephraim) in the Palestinian West Bank, where he is active in initiatives for peace and justice such as the “Olive Branch Foundation” and “Lamps for Peace in the Holy Land”.
* The Primacy of the Pope in Catholic-Orthodox Ecumenical Dialogue - 11 to 12 May 2012
with The Michael Lacko Centre for Eastern and Western Spirituality in Košice, and the Theological faculty of the Catholic University in Ružomberok
An International Scholarly
Conference to be held on 11 and 12 May 2012 at the Theological faculty of the
Catholic University in Košice, Slovakia. The Conference is a
development of the Centre for Eastern Christianity Conference Orthodox,
Anglican and Catholic Perspectives on the Question of Primacy in Modern &
Contemporary Ecclesiology held at Heythrop College on 21 March 2012.
* The present situation for Christians in Syria and the wider Middle East - 27 April 2012Mor Gregorious Yoannis Ibrahim, Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo
Anthony O'Mahony, Director, Centre for Eastern Christianity
Campion Room 2.30 - 4.30
* The Patriarch of the West: Orthodox, Anglican and Catholic Perspectives on the Question of Primacy in Modern & Contemporary Ecclesiology - 21 March 2012
- Obstacle & Opportunity: Anglicanism & the Primacy of Peter: Charles Miller, Rector of Abingdon
- The Patriarch of the West: An Exploration in modern history and contemporary ecclesiology: Anthony O'Mahony, Director, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Reader in Theology and the History of Christianity Heythrop College, University of London
- An Orthodox Theologian’s Reflection on the Papal Primacy: Olivier Clément’s Response to John Paul II’s Encyclical ‘Ut Unum Sint’: Stefanie Hugh-Donovan, Heythrop College
- Primacy, Collegiality and the Patriarch of the West - Eastern and Latin Canon Law Perspectives: Peter Petkoff, Fellow of Regent's Park College, Oxford
* Christianity in the Middle East Today - 9 March 2012
His Beatitude Gregory III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East of Alexandria and Jerusalem
The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham is based in Damascus. The Patriarch is the leader of the world-wide Melkite Church, which in the Middle East is mainly concentrated in Lebanon and Syria, although large communities live outside of the Middle East region, particularly in Europe, the United States and Canada, with further significant communities in Argentina and Brazil. Gregory III was elected patriarch on November 29, 2000. The Patriarch may be considered of the most important Christian leaders in Syria, the Middle East and the Catholic Church globally. Patriarch Gregory III was born in Daraya, near Damascus Syria, in 1933. He entered the Seminary of the Holy Saviour of the Basilian Salvatorian Fathers in Shoof, Lebanon in 1943. He took his solemn religious vows in 1954, and studied theology and philosophy at the Holy Saviour Seminary. He continued his theological studies in Rome where he obtained a Doctoral degree in Eastern Theology at the Pontifical Oriental Institute. He was superior of the Holy Saviour Major Seminary from 1961-64. In 1962, His Beatitude founded the magazine ‘Al-Wahdah’ (Unity in the Faith), the first ecumenical magazine to be published in Arabic. In 1966, he founded together with George Kwaiter, now Archbishop of Saida and Deir-el-Kamar, and Salim Ghazal, now Superior General of the Basilian Salvatorian Order, the Providence Home, at Salhiyeh, near Saida, Lebanon, as an orphanage and a trade school. In 1974, he was appointed Administrator of the Patriarchal Vicariate of Jerusalem. While in Jerusalem, in 1976, he founded the ‘Student Fund’ to help needy students, and in 1978 the Family Assistance Fund to help families in need in the troubled areas of his Diocese. In 1967, he founded the Eastern Library at the Patriarchate in order to further knowledge of Eastern tradition. He also initiated a significant number of projects, including the creation of clinics and building social housing. In 1981, he was ordained Archbishop and continued his work as Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem. He is well known throughout the Middle East and Europe as an ecumenist and theologian. Appointed by Patriarch Maximos V Hakim as president of the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission, he edited the Anthologion, the prayer book of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and a complete and updated compendium of the Divine Liturgy. As Secretary of the Ecumenical Commission of the Melkite Patriarchate, he has been very active in the dialogue between the two Sister Churches, the Melkite Greek Catholic and the Greek (Antiochian) Orthodox Churches. He is also a member of the League of the Universities and Institutes of Religious Studies in the Middle East. Following the resignation of his predecessor, Maximos V Hakim, for health reasons at the age of ninety-two, he was installed as patriarch on Wednesday November 29, 2000 immediately after his election by the bishops assembled in a special Synod for that purpose.2011
* The Syrian Orthodox Church and its Diaspora: modern history and contemporary challenges - 30 November
Sebastian Brock, Reader Emeritus in Syriac Studies, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford
* Against or For the Gentiles? Thomist approaches to theological engagement with non-Christian religions and its relevance for contemporary Christian encounter with Asian religions - 16 November (with Centre for Christianity and Interreligious Dialogue)
Martin Ganeri OP, Director, Centre for Christianity and Interreligious Dialogue, Heythrop College, University of London
* Return and Renewal: Themes in 20th-century Orthodox Theology - 2 November (with Centre for Christianity and Interreligious Dialogue)
Charles Miller, Rector of Abingdon, Oxfordshire
* The Spirit in Islam: Theology and Dialogue - 19 October (with Centre for Christianity and Interreligious Dialogue)
Hugh Boulter
* Christianity in the modern Middle East: current trends in theological, political and ecclesiological thought - 12 October (with Theology Department, Heythrop College)
Anthony O’Mahony, Director, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, University of London
* Christianity & Islam in Contemporary Context, 7 to 8 March 2011
Conference in collaboration with the Centre for Christianity and Interreligious Dialogue
- ‘An overview of theological thought on Islam and contemporary Muslim-Christian relations: modern historical and contemporary ecclesiological and theological contexts’ - Anthony O'Mahony, Heythrop College, University of London
- ‘Eastern Catholic (Arab) Perspectives on Islam & Christian-Muslim relations in the modern Middle East’ - Fr Shafiq Abouzayd, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford
- ‘Love thy Neighbour as thyself even when he is a Muslim: The Greek Orthodox Church between Nationalism and the Love of Christ’ - Gerasimos Makris, University of Athens, Greece
- ‘Christian response to Muslim presence in Poland: a study in modern history and theology in contemporary context’ - Revd Stanislaw Grodz, Lecturer at the Chair of the History and Ethnology of Religion, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), Poland
- ‘Orthodox Christianity and Islam in the Balkans: Macedonian Case Studies of Mixing at Shrines’ - Glenn Bowman, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent at Canterbury
- ‘Eastern Orthodox Perspectives on Islam and Muslim-Christian relations in contemporary Bulgaria’ - Peter Petkoff, Brunel University and Fellow of the Centre for Christianity and Culture at Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford
- ‘St. Francis and Islam in contemporary context for Muslim-Christian relations’ - Scott Thomas, University of Bath
- ‘The Church of England and Muslim-Christian relations - contemporary Anglican perspectives on Islam and political theology’ - Revd Richard Sudworth, Heythrop College, University of London
- ‘Islam and Muslim-Christian relations in contemporary Protestant thought and political theology’ - Revd Richard McCallum, Exeter University
- ‘Liturgy and Interreligious Relations: Eastern Catholic Melkite Perspectives on Islam’ - Fr Robin Gibbons, Kellogg College, University of Oxford
- ‘Eastern Catholic Perspectives from the Modern Middle East: Mary Kahil and the Encounter between Christianity and Islam’ - Agnes Wilkins OSB, Stanbrook Abbey
- ‘Eastern Orthodoxy and Muslim-Christian relations between Europe and the Middle East: Olivier Clément's perspectives on theology and eccclesiology in the Christian encounter with Islam’ - Stefanie Hugh-Donovan, Heythrop College, University of London
- ‘Charles de Foucauld, the eremitical tradition and his contribution to the Christian encounter with Islam’ - Ariana Patey, Heythrop College, University of London
- ‘Benedict XVI and Islam’ - Fr Rocco Viviano SX, Heythrop College, University of London
- Divine Liturgy served by Fr Shafiq Abouzayd, rector of the Melkite Greek Catholic Parish of St John Chrysostom, London
Dr. Lucian Leustean
This is the Second Joint Seminar of the Centre for Eastern Christianity and Heythrop College. For the first time in the history of the acquis communautaire, the Lisbon Treaty institutionalises an ‘open, transparent and regular dialogue’ between European institutions and ‘churches, religions and communities of conviction’. This paper examines the evolution of religious representation in the European Union from the 1950 Schuman Declaration proposing the establishment of a European Coal and Steel Community to the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. It offers an historical overview of religious representation and discusses the mobilisation of Orthodox churches in dialogue with European institutions.
Lucian Leustean is Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Aston University, Birmingham. He studied international relations, law and theology in Bucharest and completed his doctorate in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His publications include Orthodoxy and the Cold War. Religion and Political Power in Romania, 1947-65 (Basingstoke, Palgrave MacMillan, 2009); editor of Eastern Christianity and the Cold War, 1945-91 (London, Routledge, 2010), and co-editor of Religion, Politics and Law in the European Union (London, Routledge, 2010); ‘What is the European Union? Religion between Neofunctionalism and Intergovernmentalism’, International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, Vol. 9, no. 3, 2009, pp. 165-176. He is currently working on an ESRC project on ‘The Politics of Religious Lobbies in the European Union'.
* Canon Law and the Politics of Ecclesial Identity: The Patriarch of the West: contemporary Catholic & Orthodox perspectives - 26 January
Dr Peter Petkoff
Wednesday 26 January 2011, 4.30pm -6.00pm, The Hopkins Room, Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London W8 5HN. There is no charge for attendance and registration is not required. Enquiries: j.flannery@heythrop.ac.uk. A flyer with full details of the speaker can be downloaded here.
This is the first Joint Theology Seminary of the new Centre for Eastern Christianity and Heythrop College will take place on the afternoon of 26th January 2011. In connection with the current concern of the international Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, the focus will be on the Petrine ministry of the Bishop of Rome and the role of the papacy in the universal Church. Part of the context is the removal by Pope Benedict XVI of the title, "Patriarch of the West". To some on the Catholic side of the dialogue, the title was irrelevant, referring to long historic conditions and thus defunct. Indeed, it has been claimed that it thus stood in the way of a genuine dialogue towards reunion in the conditions of the present. But to others and to many Orthodox, it appeared to disturb the arrangements that obtained before schism set in, especially the pentarchy of the historic patriarchates, and thus made it more difficult to retrace steps in the search for lost unity. The Seminar will look at all these issues as they affect - and are affected by - respective canonical principles and the sense of the Church's identity we have as Catholics and Orthodox.
2010
* The Synod for the Middle East: Catholic Theological and Ecclesial Perspectives, 9-11 June
- Bishop Antoine Audo SJ, Bishop of Aleppo of the Chaldean Catholics
- Fr Petrus Yousif, Chaldean Catholic Church, Paris
- Fr Robert Gibbons, Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Oxford
- Fr Fidel Sidarous SJ, on the Coptic Catholic Church
- Fr John Whooley, Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster on the Armenian Catholic Church
- Archbishop Louis Sako, Archbishop of Kirkuk, Chaldean Catholic Church
- Dr Dietmar Winkler, University of Salzburg & Pro Oriente Foundation, Vienna
- Herman Teule, Director of the Institute of Eastern Christian Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen
- Najila Chada, Director of the Caritas Migrant Centre, Beirut
- Dr Sebastian Brock, Oriental Institute, Oxford, on the Syriac Churches
- Fr Michel Cuypers OP, Institut Domincain d'Etudes Orientales, Cairo
- Paolo dall'Oglio SJ, Deir Mar Husa al-Habascha, Egypt, on Christian-Muslim Relations
- Dominique Trimbur, Centre du recherche Francais, Jerusalem, on Catholic-Jewish Relations
- Fr David Neuhaus SJ, Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Hebrew Speaking Catholics, Jerusalem
- The Revd Leonard Marsh, Anglican Diocese of London, on the work of Michel Sabbah, Emeritus Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
- Fr Sidney Griffith, Catholic University of America, on Arabic Christian Relations with Islam
- Fr Simon Constantin SJ, Vice-Rector, Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, on Eastern Catholicism
- Anthony O'Mahoney, Director, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, London
- Archishop Vincent Nichols, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster,
- His Eminence Kallistos, Metropolitan of Diokleia, Diocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, Ecumenical Patriarchate
- Fr Aidan Nichols OP, Blackfriars, Cambridge
- Archimandrite Demetrios Sharbaq of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch
- Dr Simon Marincak, Michael Lacko Centre for East-West Spirituality, Kosice, Slovakian Greek Catholic Church
- Mitred Archpriest Iwan Dacko, President of the Centre for Ecumenical Studies, Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv
- Mother Nicola Proelsch OSB, Prioress of St Mildred's Priory, Minster Abbey
- Dr Marcus Plested, Academic Director, Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge
- Fr Mark Woodruff, Vice Chairman, Society of St John Chrysostom
- Anthony O'Mahoney, Director, Centre for Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, London