On Saturday 9 April 2022, Dr Sotiris Mitralexis (Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge & IOCS Cambridge) and Revd Dr Milan Đorđević (Orthodox Faculty of Theology ‘St. Clement of Ohrid’ in Skopje) convened a virtual workshop on ‘Representations of science and religion in the public square of predominantly Orthodox countries during COVID-19’, jointly hosted by IOCS Cambridge and the Orthodox Faculty of Theology ‘St. Clement of Ohrid’ in Skopje. This workshop was convened in the context of Dr Sotiris Mitralexis’ research project enabled by a subgrant from the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion (IRC), University of Oxford, under the John Templeton Foundation project #61549, ‘New Horizons For Science And Religion In Central And Eastern Europe’. Α YouTube playlist of all papers may be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzJfhlvZxww&list=PLOGO9PnLDoqz5IxLHyid-1Cd0Y-ugef-Q
Following an introduction by co-convener Dr Sotiris Mitralexis (Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge & IOCS Cambridge), hosting institutions IOCS Cambridge and the Orthodox Faculty of Theology ‘St. Clement of Ohrid’ in Skopje offer welcoming words to the workshop’s participants by Dr Razvan Porumb (Vice-Principal, IOCS Cambridge) and Revd Dr Milan Đorđević (Associate Professor in Philosophy and Pastoral Psychology at the Orthodox Faculty of Theology ‘St. Clement of Ohrid’ in Skopje) respectively.
Dr Sotiris Mitralexis (Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge & IOCS Cambridge) provides us with insights from Greece, with a paper titled ‘Religion as Science, Science as Religion, and an Unwelcome Reformation: Science and Religion in the Public Square during COVID-19 – a Greek Orthodox Case Study:
Revd Dr Milan Đorđević (Associate Professor in Philosophy and Pastoral Psychology at the Orthodox Faculty of Theology ‘St. Clement of Ohrid’ in Skopje) provides us with insights from North Macedonia:
Dr Georgi Kapriev (Professor of Philosophy, St. Kliment Ohridski University, Sofia) provides us with insights from Bulgaria, with a paper titled ‘Corona Crisis, Social Panic and Religious and Academic Life in Bulgaria’:
Dr Vladimir Cvetković (Research Associate Professor, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade) and Dr Andrej Jeftić (Faculty of Orthodox Theology, University of Belgrade) provide us with insights from Serbia, with a paper titled ‘Creationism, Communion and Vaccines: Science and Religion in the Serbian Orthodox Church’:
Dr Alexandru Racu (Faculty of Social, Humanistic and Natural Sciences, Hyperion University, Bucharest) provides us with insights from Romania, with a paper titled ‘The Romanian Orthodox Church and its Cooperation with the Romanian Authorities During the Pandemic: Too Much for Some, Too Little for Others’:
Dr Smilen Markov (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Orthodox Theology, University of Veliko Tarnovo) provides us with insights from Bulgaria, with a paper titled ‘Theology and Science – Indefiniteness as a Hеrmeneutics of Divine Economy’:
Dr Filip Ivanović provides us with insights from Montenegro:
The different views expressed in the workshop’s videos are those of the workshop participants and do not necessarily reflect the view of the John Templeton Foundation or of IOCS Cambridge.
Revised and final papers of the workshop are expected to be published in a special issue of the journal Analogia in English and to be translated and published in a Greek volume as well.