Economos Orthodoxy in America Lecture
The Christ and Anastasia Economos Orthodoxy in America Lecture at Fordham University is the largest annual lecture of its kind and the only one housed within a university setting. In addition, the annual lecture series is the only one to explore the Orthodox tradition as it intersects with the American religious experience. And since it is housed within a Roman Catholic institution, the lecture series provides an unparalleled opportunity for an advanced ecumenical conversation about the common issues facing the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions.
More information about our previous lectures is included below. Many lectures are also viewable on the Center’s YouTube channel. In addition, text from the lectures from 2018 onward can be found in the Center’s Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies.
Past Lectures
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Building an Alliance of Grace: Ecumenism in an Age of Anxiety
Joseph M. McShane, SJ
October 1, 2024
1964 was a turning point in the relationship between the Eastern and Western churches. That’s when His All Holiness Patriarch Athenagoras and His Holiness Pope Paul VI committed themselves to the Lord’s mandated work of reconciliation. While progress toward reunification has been slower than we might have hoped, the two churches have never abandoned the dream that Athenagoras and Paul shared.
The work of ecumenical dialogue became more urgent with the elections of Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis. Through their shared sense of the Christian mission, they have found greater and greater unity in and through service to the world, especially the most vulnerable among God’s children. In the process, they have formed “an alliance of grace.” The challenge is to keep that alliance alive in the world today.
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A Vanishing Point: Unity in Orthodoxy and the Ukraine Crisis
Dr. Nadieszda Kizenko, The University at Albany
Until recently, it was possible to describe Orthodoxy as “unity in plurality.” Although Orthodoxy consisted of over a dozen local churches with a wide variety of local practices and without an overarching structure, body, or person, it was still possible to say that Orthodoxy was a relatively well-functioning church—indeed, one Church. In the last decades, and especially the last decade, however, profound fissures have undermined that unity. The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete, the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine—all have exposed deeper fault lines in World Orthodoxy. These include issues of church and state (Symphonia), church and nation, how to achieve consensus, authority in the Church, how one approaches history, and the attitude to human rights and modernity in general. How can Orthodoxy face these challenges?
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Deconstructing Russia’s Ukraine Wars and Understanding the Diplomacy of Religion: Lessons in Orthodox Christianity, Geopolitics, and Power
Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodmorou
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His Grace Bishop Daniel Findikyan
"Returning to Normalcy and the Sacrament of Penance" -
The Future of Orthodox-Catholic Relations in the USA
His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
September 21, 2020
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"Theological Education in the 21st Century"
Very Rev. Dr. John Behr
Father Georges Florovsky Distinguished Professor of Patristics
St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary -
Presenting Byzantium in the Modern World
Helen Evans, Ph.D.
Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator of Byzantine Art at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtOctober 23, 2018
Today, as the study of the past is questioned, it is critical to consider ways to present Byzantium so that the relevance of its art, religion, and culture are recognized in the modern world. Exhibitions using the visual voice of the empire and its related cultures can demonstrate the inaccuracy of Edward Gibbon’s long-lasting, negative definition of the state. This talk considers modern presentations of Byzantine art with special emphasis on American contributions to effectively defining the lasting importance of the empire the Romans ruled from Constantinople from 330 to 1453.Read about the event on Fordham News.
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Orthodoxy in America and America's Orthodoxies
Presented by David Bentley Hart
Research Fellow at The Notre Dame Institute for Advanced StudySeptember 26, 2017
This lecture reflects on the degree to which Orthodoxy in America, under pressure from convert communities and the society as a whole, might be seen as bringing about a new phase in Orthodox identity, or even (for both good and ill) a new Orthodox synthesis. Is the emerging American expression of Orthodoxy truly Orthodox, or is it more truly American? Or, conversely, is Orthodox identity a single thing, or does it emerge anew in every new cultural setting?
Watch a video of the lecture and read about the event on Fordham News.
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Vera Shevzov, Professor of Religious Studies, Smith College
"Religion in America through Orthodox Eyes: The Travelogue of a Nineteenth-Century Russian Orthodox Thinker"
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Watch a video of the lecture and read about the event on Fordham News.
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Rowan Williams, 104th Archbishop of Canterbury and Master of Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters, honoris causa, and presented the Annual Orthodoxy in America Lecture on September 30, 2014, University Church, Rose Hill Campus, Fordham University.
Watch a video the lecture and degree ceremony.
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On Tuesday, 28 January 2014, His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania delivered the lecture "Sharing the Good News in a Multi-Religious Country: Theological Reflections on Other Religions" at the University Church on the Rose Hill campus.
For more information, please read the article about the lecture. You can also watch a video of the event.
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"How the Philokalic Tradition Came To Modern America - And What America Made Of It"
Presented by: The Very Rev. John Anthony McGuckin.
Ane Marie and Bent Emil Nielson Professor of Byzantine Christian Studies, Columbia University
Director, Sophia Institute, the William and Maria Spears International Center for Orthodox Thought and Culture -
"A Reflection on Contemplation, Speculation and Action in Orthodox Theology"
Presented by: David Tracy, STL, STD
Professor of Theology at the University of Chicago
Monday, 28 November 2011This lecture has been published in the Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies.
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"Perceptions and Realities in Orthodox-Catholic Relations Today: Reflections on the Past, Prospects for the Future"
Presented by Robert F. Taft, SJ, Professor Emeritus of Oriental Liturgy at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome
The lecture has been published in the book Orthodox Constructions of the West.
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"Discerning God's Presence in the World"
Presented by: His All Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch.
You can read about his visit Page not foundor view the video of the lecture.
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"The Future of Orthodox Christianity in America: A Normative Approach"
Presented by: Rev. Dr. Stanley Harakas, the Archbishop Iakovos Professor of Orthodox Theology, Emeritus, at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.
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"Women’s Voices Bearing Witness: Biblical Memories in Ancient Orthodox Liturgy"
Presented by: Susan Ashbrook Harvey, PhD
Professor of Religious Studies at Brown University -
"Heart in Pilgrimage: St. Augustine's Reading of the Psalms"
Presented by: Rev. Dr. Andrew Louth
Durham University
14 June 2007For more information, read the article about the event.
This paper is published in Orthodox Readings of Augustine.
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"In the World, not of the World, for the Sake of the World: Orthodoxy and American Culture"
Presented by: Albert J. Raboteau, Henry W. Putnam Professor of Religion at Princeton University
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"Ecological Crisis: Ecological Hope Our Orthodox Vision Of Creation"
Presented by: His Grace Bishop Kallistos Ware of Diokleia
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“The Dynamics of the Orthodox Faith in Contemporary America”
Presented by: His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios
Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America