Four round tables organized by
Volos Academy for Theological Studies
in the framework of the National Committee “Greece 2021”
On the bicentennial celebration of the Greek Revolution of 1821, Greece faces, once again, a number of challenges. The Revolution was a historically important event, where not only different religious traditions, but also cultural systems and political worldviews and social forces clashed, leading to deep changes in the Balkans, the Eastern Mediterranean and the rest of Europe. Under the current circumstances, Greece, both as a state and as a society, faces again changes in an era of rapid transformations in both the West and the East. Certainties considering the role of religion and the state, the production and distribution of wealth, the process of the democratic culture and the liberal social and political thought in the West and the East are disputed and rapidly rearranged.
In this context, Volos Academy for Theological Studies organizes four round tables in the framework of the National Committee “Greece 2021”. These meetings will examine the general attitude of religion and particularly of Greek Orthodoxy towards the “other,” focusing on the transformations of the country in the next 20 years, anticipating that this debate will contribute to a sustainable model of understanding and coexistence of religions and cultures and, ultimately, to a sustainable world, starting from the wider geographical area of the Balkans and the Mediterranean, and its possible forms by 2040.
1.
We and the “other”: Facts and perspectives for Hellenism and Orthodoxy
Athens, Caravel Hotel, September 6, 2021, 7.00 p.m.
Participants include:
His Eminence Anthimos, Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis (Church of Greece)
Dr. George Prevelakis (Emeritus Professor, Sorbonne University, Permanent Representative of Greece to the OECD)
Dr. Dimitrios Moschos (Professor, School of Theology, University of Athens)
Dr. Vassiliki Yakoumaki (Assistant Professor, University of Thessaly, Department of Social Anthropology)
Moderator: His Eminence Ignatius, Metropolitan of Demetrias, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies and Coordinator of the Working Group “Greek Orthodoxy and the ‘other’ in Greece in 2040”.
2.
The formation of the Modern Greek identity in Greece of today and tomorrow
Volos, Thessalia Conference Center, Melissiatika, September 13, 2021, 7.00 p.m.
Participants include:
Dr. Paschalis Kitromilides (Athens Academy, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Athens, Department of Political and Public Administration)
Dr. Haridimos Tsoukas (Dean, School of Graduate Studies University of Cyprus, School of Economics and Administration)
Dr. Trine Stauning Willert (Honorary Research Fellow Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies University of Birmingham, Director of the Greek Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark)
Rev. Dr. Vassileios Thermos (Child and adolescent psychiatrist, Associate Professor, Higher Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens)
Moderator: His Eminence Ignatius, Metropolitan of Demetrias, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies and Coordinator of the Working Group “Greek Orthodoxy and the ‘other’ in Greece in 2040”.
3.
The secularization of the State and society and the witness of the Church
Thessaloniki, Macedonia Palace Hotel, September 20, 2021, 7.00 p.m.
Participants include:
Rev. Theodosios Martzouchos (theologian, priest of the Holy Metropolis of Preveza)
Dr. Aris Stylianou (Professor and President, School of Political Sciences, Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Dr. Grace Davie (Professor Emerita of Sociology, University of Exeter, United Kingdom)
Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis (Director, Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Member of the Executive Committee of the European Academy of Religion)
Moderator: His Eminence Ignatius, Metropolitan of Demetrias, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies and Coordinator of the Working Group “Greek Orthodoxy and the ‘other’ in Greece in 2040”.
4 .
Islam in Greece and Europe
Alexandroupolis, Egnatia Hotel, September 27, 2021, 7.00 p.m.
Participants include:
Dr. George Kalantzis (General Secretary of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs)
Mohamed Elzahabi (President, Religious Committee of the Islamic Mosque of Athens)
Dr. Nayla Tabbara (Director, Institute of Citizenship and Diversity Management at Adyan Foundation for Diversity, Solidarity and Human Dignity, PhD in Religious Studies of the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris and the Saint-Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon)
Dr. Katerina Markou (Associate Professor of Social and Historical Anthropology of the Balkans, Democritus University of Thrace)
Moderator: His Eminence Ignatius, Metropolitan of Demetrias, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies and Coordinator of the Working Group “Greek Orthodoxy and the ‘other’ in Greece in 2040.” Welcome address by the His Eminence Anthimos, Metropolitan of Alexandroupolis.
All round tables will be bilingual (Greek-English), with free entrance to the public, in compliance with the applicable sanitary measures. There will also be a live webcast (link to be announced in the following days). For more information please contact the Volos Academy for Theological Studies Secretariat: Valila Giannoutaki, tel. +302421093553 and info@acadimia.org
