Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, on Monday, October 23, in the morning, marked the opening of the work of the Second International Scientific Conference of Chalcedon, which is under his auspices. The topic of the conference is the following: “Ecumenical Patriarchate, XV – XVI Centuries – The Era of Reconstruction”. It is co-organized by the Metropolis of Chalcedon, the Department of Social Theology and Religion of the University of Athens and the Department of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and will be held at a central hotel in Constantinople.
Hierarchs of Constantinople, clergymen, Consul of Greece in Constantinople Stavros Christodoulides, University Professors, as well as scientists attended the opening.
In his speech, the Ecumenical Patriarch pointed out, among other things, that “the Church fought vigorously to safeguard the religious and national identity of the slaves and education, an upward trend of which is observed during the last decades of the 16th century. This development contributed substantially to the revival of the self-consciousness of the Greek Nation about the ancient Greek and Christian-Byzantine spiritual and cultural heritage.”
Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon welcomed the Ecumenical Patriarch and the attendees to the Conference. He referred to the importance of that period and its importance and he pointed out that it was really important that sceintists dived into the matter.
Photos: Nikos Papachristou