Broadening the Horizons of Metropolitan John Zizioulas’s Theology
International Conference on the Thought and Legacy of Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon
Monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, Hildesheim, Germany
October 15–18, 2026
Welcome Address by His Eminence Metropolitan Grigorije of Germany, Host of the Conference
Announcement · Participants and Program
Your Graces, Distinguished Professors, esteemed participants in this symposium, dear guests,
It is a great honour for me, as host and one of the organisers, to greet you and to bid you a warm welcome. Only some ten days ago, after extensive renovation, this monastery was consecrated anew, and today it already hosts an event of great significance for us. Theologians from many different horizons have gathered here to reflect on the broadening of horizons, building on the theology of the late Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon. Perhaps it is no coincidence that such a conversation begins in a monastery that has just been renewed, for every true renewal is also an opening.
I am deeply convinced that, for us Orthodox in our time, there could hardly be a better foundation than the theology of the Metropolitan of Pergamon. His theology of personhood and communion, rooted in the Eucharist and oriented towards the coming Kingdom, makes room for encounter rather than enclosure.
We live in a time when horizons widen and narrow by turns before our very eyes. For a moment so much opens up before us, and in the very next, darkness falls. Many people are confused, frightened, worried and troubled. The task of theology today is by no means easy, nor has it ever been. Yet this rapid succession of events, some unsettling and some bringing joy, confronts us with a serious challenge: to try to speak more thoroughly, more honestly and more boldly about all that so clearly troubles the people of our time. In this, too, Metropolitan John has been and remains our finest model: a wise and courageous teacher of the Church in our age.
Please feel at home here, for this is the house of God, and we are His servants and His children. My co-workers and I will be at your disposal at every hour in the days ahead, with only one wish: to provide you with the best possible conditions for your work.
I wish to express my particular gratitude to the John Zizioulas Foundation, together with which our Diocese has organised this symposium. My heartfelt thanks go also to the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University, the University of Göttingen and the Volos Academy for Theological Studies for their valuable help and support, and to all of you for accepting our invitation.
I wish you fruitful and successful deliberations. May the Lord bless your efforts and your good intentions! Amen.