THE FEAST OF ORTHODOXY has been established for years as the official celebration of the Orthodox Academy of Crete (OAC) and as an opportunity for prayer, spiritual reflection, and interpersonal fellowship. This celebration takes on special significance because, for fifty-eight consecutive years, the Foundation has has been serving the Church and resisting all forms of “iconoclasm,” wherever it comes from, aiming at the “restoration” of the human person and, by extension, of society itself, especially in the faith of ordinary people.

On Sunday, March 1, 2026, after the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Odigitria Gonia, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Amphilochios of Kissamos and Selinos, the Procession of the Holy Icons will follow, according to the usual order of the Byzantine Typikon of the Feast. Subsequently, on the occasion of the official Feast of the Orthodox Academy of Crete, a presentation will be given on the topic: “The Person, the Image, and Artificial Intelligence: Ethical Issues and Challenges for the Orthodox Church,” by Christos N. Tsironis, Professor at the School of Theology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Researcher in Comparative Cultural Studies at the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University, where he teaches and conducts research mainly in fields related to social theory, religion, and contemporary culture. This is the Foundation’s first official event in a series of events focusing on Artificial Intelligence and Humans, as part of the activities of the OAK Research Center.

The topic of the presentation, which concerns our society beyond lines of code and computational models, aims to study the effects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on human personality, scientific research, its relationship with emotion and artistic practice. The question is not only what AI can do, but how it transforms the way we perceive knowledge, creativity, and ultimately ourselves. At a time when AI is becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday life, research, and creativity, the Orthodox Church is attempting to shift the focus from technology to the people who use it and interact with it.