The Second International Patristic Conference opens in Moscow
The 2nd International Theological Patristic Conference ‘St. Simeon the New Theologian and his Spiritual Heritage’ opened in Moscow on December 11, 2014. The Conference is sponsored by the Ss Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and the National Research Nuclear University MEPhi (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute).
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relation sand Rector of the Theological Institute of Post-Graduate Studies, opened the conference and greeted the participants on behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
The DECR chairman noted the presence of Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, a renowned hierarch and scholar, and addressed him, saying : ’Let this conference be the sign of our deep respect to your spiritual and intellectual feat in the field of Orthodox theology and pastoral ministry.’
On December 13, the Doctor Honoris Causa diploma will be handed to Metropolitan Kallistos at the Theological Institute of Post-Graduate Studies. ‘This academic degree is one of many in your collection, but the first from Russia, testifying to the international recognition of your outstanding merits in the field of Orthodox learning,’ Metropolitan Hilarion said.
The 1st Patristic Conference on St. Isaac the Syrian took place at the Moscow State University in 2013. The collection of the materials of this conference is the first monograph dedicated to the spiritual heritage of the saint.
‘It is not fortuitous that the MEPhI was chosen for the conference,’ Metropolitan Hilarion, who heads the Chair of Theology at the University, underscored. ‘This Chair should be a platform for dialogue between religion and natural science.’
The greeting of the vice-rector, A, Petrovsky, was followed by the report of Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, ‘St. Simeon the New Theologian and his Spiritual Heritage.’
Three reports were presented on the first day of the conference. Discussion followed.
‘Orthodoxy in the British Isles’ film by Metropolitan Hilarion was shown to the participants.