“Spiritual fight within the Orthodox tradition” discussed at international conference in Boze

From September 9 - 12, 2009, in the ancient monastery Bose, located in northern Italy, the annual International Ecumenical Conference of Orthodox Spirituality took place. The conference featured the most authoritative specialists in the fields of theology and social science, as well as hierarchies. It is considered to be one of the most effective “lines of communication” for the advancement of a dialogue between eastern and western Christian traditions. One of the main objectives of the conference was to analyze the basic principles of the Orthodox dogmatic world vision.  Representatives of different Christian churches took part in the conference (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) as well as social scientists and scientist-theologians of eastern and western traditions. Dr. Ihor Shaban, PhD, head of the UGCC Commission for Unity Between Christians, represented the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church at the conference. The conference of 2009 continued the dialogue that had begun in 1993 between the different Christian traditions, theologians and social scientists. The main topic of this year’s conference was the “spiritual fight within the Orthodox tradition.” “The participants of the conference studied the Holy Scripture to understand the spiritual fight, the sacrament of the Holy Communion, and the purifying of the soul (hearts) and fighting against the devil. Additionally, the participants of the conference appealed to the witnesses of saints during the 20^th century, who embody the openness that is necessary to love thy neighbor,” explained Dr. Ihor Shaban,PhD, from Bose.  At the completion of the conference, participants considered the question of the spiritual fight for the sake of unity of Churches in the modern world.  More details can be found at the official site of the monastery of Bose: www.monasterodibose.it/index.php/content/blogcategory/252/527/lang,en/.

Information Department of the UGCC