Program

22nd Academic Consultation of the Societas Oecumenica Warsaw (Poland), 5-10 September 2024

Receiving the first Council of Nicaea today: Ecumenical Learning from Synodal Discernment in the Early Church

Thursday, 5 September 2024

15:30 – 17:30  Registration for the Conference

18:00 – 19:00  Opening of the Conference 

Nicaea in the Ecumenical Discourse: The Significance of Councils and Creeds
for Common Christian Witness
– Johannes Oeldemann, Johann-Adam-Moehler-Institute for Ecumenism, Paderborn

Friday, 6 September 2024

Plenary            “Exploring Nicaea: Recent Patristic Research on the Council of Nicaea”

09:00 – 10:30  The Way to Nicaea: An Ecclesiological Perspective – Harri Huovinen, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu

The Formation of Neo-Nicenism: How the Nicene Creed Changed from a Problem to the Solution – Peter Gemeinhardt, University of Göttingen

10:30 – 11:00  Coffee break

11:00 – 12:30  The imperial context of the Council of Nicaea – Andrej Jeftić, Director of Faith and Order Commission, Geneva

Wrestling with the legacy of Nicaea: contemporary reflections – Angela Berlis, Institute of Old Catholic Theology, University of Bern

14:00-14:30 Poster Presentations

14:30 – 16:00  Small paper sessions

Plenary            “Appealing to Nicaea: Hermeneutical Reflections”

16:30 – 18:00  Appealing to Nicaea: Hermeneutical Reflections – Jennifer Wasmuth, University of Göttingen              

Response – Andrés Valencia, Facultad de Teologia San Vicente Ferrer de Valencia

Response – Uwe Swarat, Baptist Theological Seminary, Elstal (Emeritus)

18:30                Ecumenical Encounter with the Polish Ecumenical Council and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Warsaw

Greetings by the representatives of the Polish Ecumenical Council

Ecumenism in contemporary Poland: A structured overview of ecumenical and

interdenominational relationships Piotr Kopiec / Sławomir Pawłowski, John Paul II Catholic

University of Lublin

Self-presentations by the members of the Council, Q & A

Saturday, 7 September 2024

Plenary            “Retrieving Nicaea: The Significance of the Nicene Creed in the Life of the Churches”

09:00 – 10:30  Przemysław Kantyka (Roman Catholic perspective)

Jeremy Morris (Anglican perspective)

Miriam Haar (Lutheran perspective)  

10:30 – 11:00  Coffee break

11:00 – 12:30  Harutyun Harutyunyan (Oriental Orthodox perspective) 

Joshua Searle (Baptist perspective)

Wojciech Gajewski (Pentecostal perspective)

14:15 – 15:45  Small paper sessions

Plenary            “Confessing the Christian Faith in Times of War”

16:00 – 17:45  Religious Life in Times of War: Case of Ukraine, 2014 – 2024 – Natalia Shlikhta, National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy

The Present Situation of the Christian Community in Israel/Palestine – Fr. John Paul, Ecumenical Institute Tantur, Jerusalem

Armenia without Artsakh and without much hope – Harutyun Harutyunyan, Yerewan State University

18:00               Free Evening

Sunday, 8 September 2024

09:00                Departure by bus to Warsaw city centre

10:00                Sunday services in different churches in Warsaw

Afternoon excursions:

  • Guided city tour in Warsaw
  • Visiting the Mariavites in Płock (Excursion by bus)

Monday, 9 September 2024

Plenary            “Resourcing Nicaea: The Canonical Legacy of the Council”

09:00 – 10:30  Canon 8 of the Council of Nicaea and the Orthodox-Catholic Unity – Dimitrios Keramidas, Pontifical University St Thomas Aquinas, Rome

The Reformed between Hierarchy, Independentism, and Catholicity: A Response to Canon 8 of Nicaea I: “There may not be two bishops in the city” – Leon van den Broeke, Theological University Utrecht

10:30 – 11:00  Coffee break

11:00 – 12:30  Celebrating Easter Together? – Dagmar Heller, Institute for Ecumenical Studies and Research, Bensheim

One Easter – but with whom? A Finnish Orthodox Perspective – Maria Takala-Roszczenko, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu
14:00 – 15:30  Small paper sessions

16:00 – 19:00  Membership assembly

Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Plenary              “Inheriting Nicaea: The Charism of Synodal Discernment and its Challenges”

09:00 – 10:30    The Early Church’s ideal of synodality and its implementation – Artur Aleksiejuk,Christian Theological Academy, Warsaw
Structures and Processes of Synodality today – Sr. Nathalie Becquart, General Secretariat of the Synod, Rome
10:30 – 11:00    Coffee break

Concluding lecture

11:00 – 12:15    Theological Reasoning and the Mutual Accountability of Synodality: Perspectives for the Future – Bishop Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, Presiding Bishop, Church of Norway