Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium, President of the Orthodox Episcopal Conference of the Benelux under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, received a doctorate in theology from Radboud University on May 11, 2026, following the public defense of his dissertation titled “The Orthodox Parish of Saint Catherine in Amsterdam (1752–1886).”
His research examined the foundation, development, and significance of the Orthodox parish established in 18th-century Amsterdam by Greek merchants living in the major commercial city. The parish later also attracted Russian Orthodox faithful and became one of the very few Orthodox communities in Western and Central Europe at the time.
The dissertation explored how Orthodox migrants preserved their religious identity and community life within a predominantly non-Orthodox environment, while also highlighting the broader connections between migration, international trade networks, and relations between Eastern and Western Christian traditions.
During his research, Metropolitan Athenagoras uncovered several rare and previously unknown archival sources, including a Dutch translation of the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom dating back to 1760.
His doctoral supervisors were the late Prof. Dr. Peter Nissen and Prof. Dr. Heleen Murre-van den Berg, both distinguished scholars of church history and Eastern Christianity at Radboud University.
Source: orthodoxia.be
