Orthodox Academy Crete, as a Research Center, in collaboration with the Harvard University School of Medicine (Department of Global Health and Social Medicine), began a series of scientific lectures on the central theme: “Bioethics and Orthodoxy“. In the first meeting, the keynote speaker was Dr. Manolis Kellis, Professor at MIT Boston, while the second meeting, on the occasion of the Feast of the Three Hierarchs, the Feast of Education, will be held on Wednesday, January 31st. (16:00-18:00) and the speaker will be Fr. Basil Kaliakmanis, Professor of the Theological Faculty of the University of Thessaloniki.

The lecture will attempt to identify the criteria which the Fathers give and which are of crucial importance for today’s time. It will consider how social responsibility can or should be taught by professors, so that we educate young people (who will become scientists, doctors, theologians, clergy, political leaders, lawyers or judges) always with social justice in mind? How do we instil in humanity a more ethical understanding of the world in general and of society in particular? How do we imagine education in today’s schools to prepare young people for the AI society? What might be the contribution of the Three Hierarchs to the above issue?

The keynote speaker of the event, Fr. Vassilios Kalliakmanis, was born in Thermos, Aetolia and studied in Athens, Thessaloniki, Geneva and Fribourg, Switzerland. He is Professor in the Department of Ethics and Sociology at the Department of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and teaches ethics, bioethics, pastoral care and counselling. Since 1994 he has been responsible for the publication of the magazine “Orthodoxy” of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He is a member of three Synodal Committees of the Church of Greece and has published articles in journals, collective volumes and conference volumes. From October 2009 until April 2014 he wrote every Sunday in the newspaper “Makedonia” of Thessaloniki, where about 180 popularized articles of theological and social content were published.

The event will be introduced by Dr Konstantinos Zorbas, General Director of the Orthodox Academy of Crete (“OAC”) and will be broadcast on the OAC’s YouTube channel. All that is required is to log in via the link: https://bit.ly/2J7COjq by selecting the specific event, which will be marked “LIVE”. The audience can ask questions during the event via the Youtube platform.