Orthodox Institute

Welcome to

6th Sts. Sebastian & Mardarije Orthodox Institute

Being with the Other

On Ecclesial Ministries and the Ministry of the Priest

Being with the Other

Any country is their homeland, and any homeland is a foreign country

Bishop Grigorije (Durić) of Düsseldorf and Germany
His Grace Grigorije is a renowned Serbian Orthodox bishop who has been serving as the head of the Diocese of Düsseldorf and Germany since 2018. He is a former bishop of the Diocese of Herzegovina. Bishop Grigorije obtained his PhD at the University of Belgrade.
He enrolled in the Seminary School in 1984 and graduated in 1988 in Belgrade. He graduated from the Faculty of Theology in 1994, and from 1995 to 1997 he was in postgraduate studies in Athens. He was ordained a monk on 23 June 1992 in the Ostrog Monastery, from where he went with Bishop Atanasije (Jevtić) to the renovated Tvrdoš Monastery near Trebinje. He was enthroned as the bishop of Zahumlje and Herzegovina by the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, Amfilohije on October 3, 1999, with the blessing of Patriarch Pavle. At the regular session of the Holy Synod in May 2018, he was elected bishop of the Diocese of Frankfurt and all of Germany (today the Diocese of Düsseldorf and all of Germany).
He has written many books and articles published in scholarly journals and theological magazines. With the book Over the Highest Mountain, Vladika Grigorije was ranked among the most gifted Bosnia-Herzegovina writers.

Event Description
Schedule

The Institute of Sts Mardarije and Sebastian is designed to facilitate an exchange of views, experiences, and ideas between the fields of theology, science, and anthropology. The ultimate purpose of this exchange is to serve mankind within the Church as well as in the context of the sciences and culture.

This year’s Institute has brought us in San Diego in an effort to foster communication between theology, literature, and sociology.

Any communication between theology and modern man would entail the fusion of the horizon of the past with the horizon of the present, of our own existential concerns and questions. As the Fathers of the Church developed their anthropology in response to the challenges of their time, so also, we must place their views in relation to our own contemporary questions if they are to have a relevance for our time.

Fr. Georges Florovsky warns us that “knowledge of the Fathers cannot be achieved by any servile repetition of the Patristic letter, as it cannot be achieved by Biblical fundamentalism either .. . servility is alien both to the Bible and to the Fathers. They were themselves bold and courageous and adventurous seekers of the Divine truth … No renewal is possible without a return to the sources. But it must be a return to the sources, the Well of living water, and not simply a retirement into a library or museum of venerable and respectable, but outlived relics.”

Monday, February 20

4:00 pm – 6:00 pm Registration
6:00 pm – 6:30 pm Vespers
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Wine & Cheese Reception

Tuesday, February 21

8:00 am – 8:30 am Registration for New Arrivals
8:30 am – 10:00 am Divine Liturgy
10:00 am – 10:45 am Continental Breakfast
10:45 pm – 11:30 am Bishop Grigorije: Being with the Other
11:30 am – 12:15 am Discussion
12:15 pm – 12:00 pm Break
12:30 pm – 1:00 pm Presentation: “Munich Serbian Psalter”
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Lunch
2:30 pm – 4:45 pm Break
5:00 pm – 5:45 pm Bishop Grigorije: On Ecclesial Ministries and the Ministry of the Priest
5:45 pm – 6:30 pm Discussion
6:30 pm – 7:15 pm Vespers
7:30 pm – 8:20 pm Dinner
8:30 pm – 9:30 pm Fellowship

Wednesday, February 22

8:30 am–9:15 am Orthros
9:30 am–10:20 am Continental Breakfast
10:30 pm – 11:30 am Bishop Grigorije: Epistle to Diognetus Today: “Any country is their homeland, and any homeland is a foreign country”
11:30 am – 12:00 pm Coffee Break
12:00 pm – 12:30pm Discussion
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Lunch & Music Program
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm Presentation of Certificates

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