October 7: “What Will the Harvest Look Like? Training Priests for the 21st Century,” Fr. Harry Pappas, Ph.D.
Father Harry is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in New York. A priest of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, he has 20 years of pastoral experience leading parishes in Enfield, Connecticut, Kingston, New York, Nashville, Tennessee and Minneapolis. An honors graduate of Davidson College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary, he holds an M.A. from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. in Old Testament from Yale University. This year, St. Vladimir’s has implemented a new curriculum and academic calendar designed to prepare priests for the challenges of 21st century parish life.
November 18: “Being Orthodox in a Big, Big World,” Fr. Constantine Newman, Ph.D.
Father Constantine is the pastor of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and has served as a parish priest of the Metropolis of Boston in Pittsfield, Lexington, Massachusetts and Dover, New Hampshire. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from the Catholic University of America, an M.Div. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological Seminary, where he also teaches, and a Ph.D. in classics from the Johns Hopkins University. Currently he is a lecturer in classics at the University of New Hampshire. Fr. Constantine’s talk will focus on the challenges and opportunities that Orthodox parishes face in their relations with other religious groups in American communities.
December 9: “The State and Prospects of Catholic-Orthodox Relations,” Dr. Vito Nicastro, M.Div., Ph.D.
In our hometowns and even in our family lives, Hartford’s Orthodox faithful deal frequently and closely with Roman Catholics, who belong to the dominant religious group in New England. How do we look from the Catholic side of the relationship? We have invited a leading Catholic expert on ecumenical dialogue, who is deeply familiar with Orthodox life in America to speak to us.
Since 1989 Dr Nicastro has held posts at the Office for Ecumenical and Inter Religious Affairs of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, where he is now Associate Director. He holds. degrees from Brown University (B.A.), Weston Jesuit Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Boston College (Ph.D.). He was appointed to the North American Orthodox - Roman Catholic Theological Commission in 2005. He co-organized the Boston Orthodox-Catholic Pilgrimage of 2007, (a joint pilgrimage by Catholic and Orthodox faithful from the Boston area to Rome and Constantinople.)
January 20: “Making Up is Hard to Do:” The Reconciliation of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate,” Andrew Walsh, Ph.D.
Following a century of bitter division caused by the Communist Revolution in Russia and the Cold War, the Church of Russia and the “Synod Abroad” officially reunited in May after several years of fascinating negotiations. How was this breach healed and what are the implications for the larger Orthodox world? Andrew Walsh is associate director of the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College. A historian of religion in America and of the Orthodox Church, he holds degrees from Trinity, Yale Divinity School and Harvard University.
February 17: “The Place of the Saints in Contemporary Orthodox Life,” James Skedros, Th.D.
Professor Skedros holds the Michael G. and Anastasia Cantonis Chair of Byzantine Studies at Hellenic College in Brookline, Massachusetts. He holds degrees from the University of Utah, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological School, and Harvard Divinity School, from which he was granted a Th.D. Much of his scholarly work has focused on the role of the saints in Orthodox life.
March 9: “Religious Freedom for Minorities in Turkey: the Ecumenical Patriarchate under Kemalist and Islamist Governments,” Elizabeth Prodromou, Ph.D.
Professor Prodromou is assistant professor of international relations at Boston University and a research associate at the university’s Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs. She holds degrees from Tufts University and a doctorate in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 2004 she has served as a commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. She is a specialist in comparative politics and on church-state relations for Southeast Europe, including Greece and Turkey.
May 18 Anton Brame, PhD "Will our Children Have Faith?"
Dr. Vrame, director of religious education for the Greek Archdiocese of America will explore the challenges of handing forward the Orthodox tradition to the next generation.
For more information about the series, contact the Cathedral directly: 433 Fairfield Ave., Hartford, CT 06114; (tel.) 860-956-7586; (fax) 860-956-1377.
