Today, Thursday, October 10, 2019, the Holy Synod of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece met, at its third ordinary session, under the Presidency of Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, at the conference room of the Holy Synod of the Hierarchy.
According to the Agenda, Metropolitan Maximos of Ioannina read his proposal on “The consequences of digital technology and the technical spirit in the Church’s role and mission.”
In his lecture, the Metropolitan mentioned that technology today is penetrating every aspect of our lives, becoming a reality and an ever more pressing necessity. But for us Orthodox Greeks, neither in our history nor in our theology, technology and its use are unknown concepts, and we already use some of the technological conquests and innovations of our time, in the church, in our spiritual ministry to the world and in our administrative structures. Consequently, “it is our job to convince people that Orthodoxy is not a medieval and a phobic conservatism, but the way to real progress, real development, real and productive prosperity, real standard of living and culture.
A debate on the proposal followed, where Archbishop Ieronymos highlighted in particular the distinction that must be drawn between the use and the abuse of modern technology.
After the break, Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki read his lecture on “The challenges of artificial intelligence”. “Artificial Intelligence is an enormous technological achievement of recent years,” the Metropolitan noted.
The Metropolitan of Mesogaia also stressed that “as a Church there is no reason to fear all this scientific and technological development, however advanced it may be. The world does not thirst for Artificial Intelligence; it needs godly wisdom. The former can bring disaster; the latter guarantees life. The preaching and testimony of our Church is more timely than ever.”
A dialogue followed during which views were raised to address these issues through Church theology, which judges, accepts, and implements all modern scientific achievements in the interest of the people.
The Holy Synod of the Hierarchy will continue its work tomorrow, Friday, October 11.
