On November 26, 2024, Archons Prof. Dr. George E. Demacopoulos and Prof. Dr. Aristotle “Telly” Papanikolaou were featured speakers at a major conference in Athens, Greece on the state of Orthodox Theology. The conference was sponsored by the Church of Greece and the University of Athens.
There were about 180 talks, of which around 140 were presented by bishops, priests, and professors from Greece. Archons Demacopoulos and Papanikolaou were the only two lay Greek-Americans invited. His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew opened the conference with a keynote address on Sunday evening, Nov. 24.
Of the twenty five sessions, one was selected to take place in the Βουλή των Ελλήνων (Vouli ton Hellenon), the historic chamber of the Parliament, rather than at the University of Athens, where all the other addresses were held. This session at the parliament building was the one in which Archons Papanikolaou and Demacopoulos were scheduled to speak. The president of the Parliament and several leading ministerial officials of the Hellenic Republic were in attendance, along with other scholars and bishops from the conference.
Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (AEP), said: “The AEP is very proud of the participation of Archons Demacopoulos and Papanikolaou in this important conference, which His All-Holiness himself addressed. Archons George and Telly are not only accomplished academic scholars, but fully engaged in the sacred mission of the AEP…. ΆΞΙΟΙ!”
The Old Parliament Building of Athens, also known as the “Old Palace,” stands as a symbol of Greece’s journey towards democracy and independence. Completed in 1843, this neoclassical masterpiece served as the home of the Hellenic Parliament from 1875 to 1935. It was the site of the historic 1st Summit of Global Archons, which brought together Archons from the U.S., Greece, elsewhere in Europe, Canada, and Australia for a groundbreaking meeting on May 29, 2024.
The title of Archon Dr. Demacopoulos’ paper was “The ‘Emperor Saint’ and the Danger of Collective Historical Ignorance.” Archon Dr. Papanikolaou spoke on “Incarnational Pluralism: Ecclesial and Political Implications.”
Archon Prof. Dr. George E. Demacopoulos is the Fr. John Meyendorff & Patterson Family Chair of Orthodox Christian Studies at Fordham University. He is also the Co-Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at the same University. He is the author of many books, articles and academic presentations on Orthodoxy, and has been a frequent guest lecturer on Orthodoxy at clergy and lay gatherings of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. His research resulted in the return to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the relics of St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom from Vatican. Dr. Demacopoulos was invested as Archon in 2010 and conferred with the offikion Didaskalos tou Genous.
Archon Prof. Dr. Aristotle Papanikolaou is a Professor of Theology and the Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture at Fordham University. He is Co-Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at the same University, and Senior Fellow at the Emory University Center for the Study of Law and Religion. His areas of expertise are contemporary Eastern Orthodox theology (19th and 20th centuries), Trinitarian theology, and political theology. He is a prolific author of many articles and academic presentations on Orthodoxy. Dr. Papanikolaou was invested as Archon in 2010 and conferred with the offikion Prostatis ton Grammaton.
