(The following session)
On May 31 of the current year, the international scientific conference, titled: “The Question of Primacy and Synodality and the First Ecumenical Council”, dedicated to the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, continued its work in St. Queen Tamar Hall of Tbilisi City Council.
The aforementioned international conference was held with the blessing of His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, Metropolitan of Bitchvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazeti, and organized by the Patriarchate of Georgia and Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, with the support of Tbilisi Municipal Council.
The session of the participants of the second day of the conference was opened by the Rector of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, Doctor of Theology, Philology and Political Sciences, Professor, Protosyngellos of the Orthodox Church of Georgia Giorgi Zviadadze. The session was chaired by the Academic Secretary of the Dissertation Council of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, Academician of Gelati Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Theology and Philology, Professor, Archpriest Bidzina Gunia. The working languages of the conference were Georgian and English. Simultaneous translation was provided by the internationally qualified translators - Ms. Lali Kereselidze and Ms. Tamar Neparidze.
The following participants presented their talks at the session: 1. His Eminence Anania (Japaridze) - Metropolitan of Manglisi and Tetritskaro, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor - “The Episcopal See of Pitiunti, a Participant in the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, and the Formation of the Church of Georgia”. 2. Dr. Michael Hjälm – Sweden, Stockholm. The Rector of Saint Ignatius University of Stockholm, Professor - “The Sobornal Church: Conciliarity Instead of Conciliarism”. 3. Priest Serafim Smensgård - Sweden, Stockholm. The Deputy/Assistant of the Rector of Saint Ignatius University of Stockholm, Professor – “Dialogical Learning at the Anthropological Border: Connecting Freire and Horujy’s Vision of Human Formation”. 4. Igumen Izsak Baan – Hungary, Budapest. Doctor of Theological Sciences, Professor in the Sapientia University of Budapest – “Primacy and Synodal Functioning in Early Western Monasticism, with Special Reference to the Rule of St. Benedict”. 5. Archpriest Longinoz Suarishvili - Georgia, Tbilisi. The Head of the Department of Canon Law of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, Master of Theology - “Synodality and Primacy at the Ecumenical and Local Levels”. 6. Archpriest Aleksi Kshutashvili - Georgia, Tbilisi. A teacher in the Department of Canon Law of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, Doctor of Theology – “The Expanded Council of the Orthodox Church of Georgia Convened in 1995, and the Dogmatic and Canonical Teachings Adopted at It”.
At the end of the session, the Rector of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, Protosyngellos Giorgi Zviadadze, summed up the work of the conference. He expressed his heartfelt gratitude towards the Georgian and foreign scientists participating in the international scientific conference for their speeches prepared at a high academic level and spoke about the necessity of publishing them in a separate edition. In his closing speech, Protosyngellos Giorgi Zviadadze drew attention to the contribution of His Holiness and Beatitude, Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II to the Georgian state, the Holy Church of Georgia, the Georgian people and the Ecumenical Orthodox Church; in addition, he spoke about the Patriarch’s special legacy in the revival and development of theological education in Georgia.
The speeches of the foreign participants of the conference, expressing gratitude towards the Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia, the Patriarchate of Georgia and Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, and personally to its Rector, Protosyngellos Giorgi Zviadadze, were emotional and sincere. Each of them extended special gratitude for the opportunity to participate in the international conference dedicated to the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea and for the warm hospitality they had received.
It is noteworthy that the conference was attended as an invited guest by the editor of the official journal of the Orthodox Church of Greece “Theologia”, Mr. Alexandros Katsiaras. The simultaneous translation of his speech from Greek into Georgian was provided by Tornike Mamniashvili, Assistant Professor of the Department of Church History, Patristics and Dogmatics of TTAS.
At the end of the international scientific conference, the Choir of Tbilisi Theological Academy, directed by Lekso Gremelashvili, performed Georgian hymns.
The session was attended by the professors and students of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, clergy, representatives of scientific and academic circles, teachers from various higher educational institutions, students and other persons interested in the aforementioned issues.
