Fairfax, Virginia – The 22nd Annual Orientale Lumen Conference will be held on June 18-21, 2018 in Washington, DC on the theme: “Sister Churches: Fact or Fiction?”  The conference is open to the public but advanced reservations are required.  The agenda will include six plenary sessions of lectures and discussion of the conference theme, ecumenical prayer services from the Byzantine Christian tradition, and fellowship at meals and evening receptions.

Plenary speakers for this conference will include:

•    Patriarch Emeritus Gregorios III, retired primate of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem
•    Father Hyacinthe Destivelle, OP, from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in the Vatican
•    Father John Ford, CSC, professor emeritus of ecumenism of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC
•    Father Robert Kaslyn, SJ, professor of canon law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC
•    Dr. Will Cohen from the University of Scranton and author of “The Concept of ‘Sister Churches’ in Catholic-Orthodox Relations since Vatican II”
•    Mr. Michael Haldas, author, educator and lecturer from Bethesda, MD
•    Father Ron Roberson, CSP, will be the moderator

A pre-recorded video by Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware), professor emeritus from Oxford University, on the conference theme will be shown at the opening session.

The conference fee is $395 per person and includes all meals and other conference expenses.  Early registration is available until May 1st for $350 per person.  Overnight accommodations at the Washington Retreat House, location of all events and meals, can be reserved through the conference office for $80/night per person.  Space is limited for the conference, so reservations should be made early.

The Orientale Lumen Conferences have been meeting annually in Washington since 1997 and have included patriarchs, cardinals, archbishop, bishops, theologians, ecumenists and lay persons from the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic traditions. More information about past conferences can be found at:  http://olfoundation.net/conferences/.  More details and online registration is available at http://olfoundation.net/conferences/ol-xxii-june-18-21-2018/ or by calling 703-691-8862.