Date: February 19, 2007
Contact: Jack Figel (703) 691-8862
President
Eastern Christian Publications
For Immediate Release
Orientale Lumen Conferences Announced for 2007Fairfax VA: The Orientale Lumen Conferences will be held in four different cities around the world this coming year. These ecumenical conferences focus on the Christian East and are open to the public, for both lay persons and clergy. The plenary speakers come from four main religious groups: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Oriental Orthodox. These conferences encourage ecumenical dialogue (discussion of the similarities and differences among the groups) on a theme through presentations and discussions. The conferences include a variety of prayer services, from a wide range of Church traditions. In this way, the conferences provide a learning experience and intellectual discussion, as well as a unique spiritual experience.
The goals, then, of the Orientale Lumen Conferences are to:
-- educate and promote information about the Eastern Christian Churches, their traditions, liturgy, spirituality, monasticism, theology, and more
-- provide an unofficial forum for ecumenical dialogue at the "grass roots" level among lay persons and clergy, as well as include senior Church officials and theologians who normally participate in official dialogues.
Orientale Lumen EuroEast II will be held in Istanbul, May 7 � 10, 2007. The theme of this conference will be �Liturgical Worship of the Eastern Church�. The presentations and discussion will explore various aspects of this interesting topic, which is at the core of how people relate to their own Church. The speakers will discuss the conference theme from the perspective of their own tradition. They will include:
Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, Oxford, United Kingdom
Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ, Pontifical Oriental Institute, the Vatican, Rome, Italy
Father Paul McPartlan, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA
Father Peter Galadza, Sheptytsky Institute, St. Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Father Andrew Dudchenko, Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, Kiev, Ukraine
Prof. Gabriele Winkler, University of T�bingen, T�bingen, Germany
The conference moderator will be Bishop John Michael Botean, Romanian Greek Catholic Church, Canton, OH, USA. Special guests will include Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, and Lubomyr Cardinal Husar, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Orientale Lumen XI East will be held in Washington, DC, June 18 � 21, 2007, at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in northeast Washington, DC next to the campus of The Catholic University of America.
Orientale Lumen XI West will be held in San Diego, CA, June 25 � 28, 2007, on the campus of the University of San Diego. The theme of both of these conferences will be �Icons � Expressions of Our Faith�. Icons are the graphical representations of scripture, the people, and events of the church, and guide the spiritual thought and experience for many people. They are found in all human activity, and are helpful visual guides for each person, sometimes differently for each one. They can be touchstones of beauty and inspiration, used with many caring and devoted purposes for all of us. The conferences will explore the theology and symbols of icons and how they are used for religious devotion.
The following speakers will give presentations at both locations:
Metropolitan Nicholas of Amissos, Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church, Johnstown, PA, USA
Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, Oxford, United Kingdom, (by recorded video from Constantinople)
Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ, Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, Italy
Father Mark Morozowich, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA
Prof. Richard Schneider, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Other speakers in Washington will include Father Daniel Findikyan, St. Nerses Armenian Orthodox Seminary, New York, NY, USA and Father Andrij Chirovsky, Sheptysky Institute, Ottawa, Canada. Other speakers in San Diego will include Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, CA, USA, and Father Thomas Loya, Chicago, IL, USA.
The moderator for both sites will be Rev. Msgr. George Dobes, US Navy Chaplain Corps, Retired, Washington, DC, USA.
The fourth conference this year,
Orientale Lumen Australasia and Oceania III, will be held in Melbourne, Australia, on September 26 � 29, 2007 on the campus of the Australian Catholic University there. The theme will be �The Life in Christ� and plenary speakers will include:
Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, Russian Orthodox Church, Vienna, Austria
Archimandrite Serge Keleher, Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Dublin, Ireland
Father Columba Stewart, OSB, Collegeville, MN, USA
Professor Mary Cunningham, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Dr. Abraham Terian, St. Nerses Armenian Orthodox Seminary, New York, NY, USA
Dr. Frances Baker, School of Theology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
Dr. Mary Marrocco, Canadian Council of Churches
The moderator in Melbourne will be Rev. John Henderson, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, Australia.
Church leaders, lay persons, monastics, clergy and students are all welcome and invited to participate. These conferences have been appreciated and discussed all across the world, and have been mentioned in meetings among the religious leaders in the Vatican, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, and many others.
The Orientale Lumen Conferences have been meeting annually since 1997 in Washington, DC and other locations around the world. Primarily sponsored by the Society of Saint John Chrysostom and Eastern Christian Publications, other co-sponsors include the Halki School of Orthodox Theology in Constantinople, the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and the University of San Diego, in San Diego, CA.
The Pope's visit to Istanbul in November, 2006, as well as the official dialogue of Catholic and Orthodox Churches that was held in September, 2006, demonstrate the improved relations among the Christian Churches. The Orientale Lumen conferences function in an unofficial capacity parallel to those official discussions. They are unique because of the extensive participation of lay persons, and because of the involvement of Eastern Catholics -- a small minority within the Catholic Church, and who are rarely represented at other dialogue meetings.
Registration details for the Istanbul, Washington and San Diego conferences are available on the website at
www.olconference.com [
olconference.com] or by contacting the Conference Office for a brochure.
Contact:
Jack Figel
Orientale Lumen Conferences
PO Box 192
Fairfax, VA 22038-0192
(703) 691-8862
info@olconference.com
Details for the Melbourne conference can be found at
www.orientale-lumen.com.au [
orientale-lumen.com.au] .
For further information:
Society of Saint John Chrysostom:
www.ssjc.com [
ssjc.com]
Eastern Christian Publications:
www.ecpubs.com [
ecpubs.com]
The Catholic University of America:
www.cua.edu [
cua.edu]
The University of San Diego:
www.sandiego.edu [
sandiego.edu]
# # #
Photo Captions:
1. OL EuroEast I Group at Halki -- �The attendees at the Orientale Lumen EuroEast I Conference at the Halki Orthodox School of Theology in May 2004�
2. OL EuroEast Group with Bartholomew -- �The attendees with Patriarch Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, at the Orientale Lumen EuroEast I Conference in May 2004�
3. OL X East Group -- �The group of participants at the Orientale Lumen X East Conference in Washington, DC in June 2006�
4. OL X West Group -- �The group of participants at the Orientale Lumen X West Conference in San Diego, CA in June 2006�
5. Bartholomew Address � �Patriarch Bartholomew welcomes and addresses the Orientale Lumen EuroEast I Conference in Constantinople�
6. Gregorios at Tombs � �Greek-Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III of Antioch leads a memorial prayer service at the tombs of deceased Patriarchs of Constantinople�
