Program
XXVIth International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality
DISCERNMENT AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Monastero di Bose, 5-8 September 2018
in collaboration with the Orthodox Churches
… discernment is reckoned among the noblest gifts of the Spirit by the Apostle:
“To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gift of healing by the same Spirit”, and shortly after,
“to another the discerning of spirits”. You see then that the gift of discernment is no earthly thing and no slight matter, but the greatest prize of divine grace.
(St John Cassian)
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Wednesday 5 September
Opening of the Conference
Recognizing the Signs of the Times.
Enzo Bianchi, Founder of Bose
Discerning the Unity of the Church.
St Irenaeus and the Early Christian Tradition
✢ Irenei (Steenberg), Bishop of Sacramento
The Art of Discernment: Theology and Practice in Pauline Thought.
Filofej (Artjušin), Theological Academy, Moscow
15.30
Diákrisis and the Theological Principle of oikonomía
Patriciu Vlaicu, University “Babeș-Bolyai”, Cluj-Napoca
Recognising the Other Tradition.
Armenian-Byzantine Dialogue in Armenian Cilicia in the Twelfth Century
Karekin Hambardzumyan, Etchmiadzin
Discerning together the Truth.
Christological Agreement between Chalcedonian Orthodox and Oriental Churches
Vasiliki Stathokosta, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Thursday 6 September
Discernment in Times of Crisis: St Maxim the Confessor
✢ Maxim Vasilijević, Bishop of Western America, Los Angeles
The Temporal Dimension of Discernment. Memory and History
John Erickson, Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary Crestwood, NY
Criteria for Community Decisions in St Benedict Rule
Michel Van Parys, Monastère de Chevetogne
15.30
Discerning the Present Time
The Council of Moscow of 1917-1918
Aleksandr Mramornov, Moscow
Metropolitan Stephan of Sofia
and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (1940-1944)
Daniela Kalkandjieva, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridsky”
The Antiochian Church and the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990)
Porphyrios Giorgi, University of Balamand
Friday 7 September
John Climacus on Discernment and Spiritual Perception
Paul Gavrilyuk, University of St Thomas, St Paul MN
The Spiritual Senses in the Syriac Tradition
Sebastian Brock, Oxford university
Discernment in St John Cassian
and the Ascetic Tradition of the Fifth Century in Gaul
Alexej Fokin, Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
15.30
Discernment and the Healthy Formation of the Person
Kyriaki Fitzgerald, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline MA
Elders and “Young Elders” in the Russian Orthodox Church
Irina Paert, Tartu University
The Spiritual Father Today:
Strength and Limits of Discernment
Theodosios Martzouchos, Preveza
Saturday 8 September
The Way of Awareness
and Authenticity in the Church Today
John Chryssavgis, Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne
What is a Synodal Process of Discernment?
Hervé Legrand, Paris
Learning Spiritual Discernment
John Behr, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood NY