Athens hosts conference on threat of ecumenism to the Church

A conference poster. Photo: eeod.gr

On May 3, 2026, a theological conference dedicated to the problem of ecumenism is taking place in the event hall of the War Museum in Athens, reports the UOJ in Greece.

The event was organized by the Greek "Hearth of Patristic Studies" (Greek: Ἑστία Πατερικῶν Μελετῶν). The coordinator was Archpriest John Fotopoulos, a lawyer-theologian and rector of St. Paraskeva's Church. The conference was attended by two Athonite monks – Monk Paisios Kareotis and Hieromonk Luke of Grigoriou, as well as four theologians from the universities of Athens and Thessaloniki. The conference began with prayer and a performance by the student choir of the "School of Psalmody" under the direction of Constantine Fotopoulos. The broadcast was conducted live on the Facebook page ΕΟΔ.

The program includes six presentations. PhD in Theology Leon Brang raised the question of the possibility of unity without truth. Monk Paisios Kareotis, former teacher of iconography at the Athonias School, analyzed the history and theology of ecumenism. Master of Dogmatic Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Ioannis Markas dedicated his report to the "monarchian" spirit of the Council of Crete (Kolymbari, 2016) as a factor dividing Orthodox unity. Doctoral candidate at the University of Athens and deputy chairman of the Society of Theologians "Metexis" Vasilios Touloumdsis examined baptismal ecclesiology as the basis of inter-Christian ecumenism – the transition from the concept of "one Baptism of the Church" to the so-called "common" Trinitarian baptism. Hieromonk Luke of Grigoriou presented an ecclesiological analysis of the dialogue between Orthodox and anti-Chalcedonians (pre-Chalcedonian Churches). PhD Pavlos Klimatsakis concludes the program with a report on the ideologies and delusions of the era leading to ecumenism.

As UOJ reported, Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Leo XIV recited the Creed in Nicaea. The organizers cited the intensification of ecumenical contacts as the reason for holding the conference: the meeting of the Ecumenical Patriarch with the Pope of Rome in Nicaea of Bithynia, exchanges of visits between Orthodox and heterodox hierarchs, joint prayers in Orthodox churches. According to the organizers, such actions are aimed at achieving the so-called "visible unity of churches" and blur the Orthodox consciousness of believers.

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