The Saints Cyril and Methodius Lecture Series was established in 2001 at the close of the seminary’s 50th anniversary celebration year. It takes place annually in the spring.
Previous lectures are listed below along with audio/video if available.
Previous Speakers:
2024 – Father John Anthony McGuckin – Theological Radicalism in a Time of Political Revolution
The Very Rev. Professor John Anthony McGuckin is an Archpriest of the Orthodox Church in the Patriarchate of Romania’s Archdiocese in Western Europe, Rector of St Gregory’s chapel in St. Anne’s on Sea, in North West England; Professor in the Theological Faculty of Oxford University; Senior Professorial Research Fellow at Emory University’s School of Law, and at the St. Irenaeus Orthodox Institute at Radboud University Nijmegen.
2023 – Father John Baldovin – Making the City a Church: Liturgical Processions in Constantinople from the Sixth to the Tenth Centuries
Fr. John F. Baldovin is Professor of Historical and Liturgical Theology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. He is a priest of the USA-East Province of the Society of Jesus. He received his BA from the College of the Holy Cross, an MDiv from Weston School of Theology, and MA, MPhil, and PhD from Yale University.
2022 – Father Radu Bordeianu – The Church as a Family
Fr. Radu Bordeianu is an Associate Professor of Theology at Duquesne University and assistant priest at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Pittsburgh. His research focuses on ecumenical dialogues and various teachings on the Church. He is the author of Dumitru Staniloae: An Ecumenical Ecclesiology (2011, Romanian translation 2022), and the editor of It is the Spirit Who Gives Life: New Directions in Pneumatology (2022). He served as President of the Orthodox Theological Society of America and is currently a member of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation – the official dialogue between the two churches. He is a co-convener of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Pittsburgh and is involved in local ecumenical dialogues
2021 – Father Deacon Daniel Galadza – The Liturgy of Jerusalem: History, Theology, and Lessons for Today
Father Deacon Daniel Galadza completed studies at the University of Toronto and the Sheptytsky Institute before defending his doctorate in Byzantine liturgy at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome in 2013. He has been a junior fellow at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, D.C., assistant professor at the University of Vienna, visiting professor at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, and is currently a research fellow at the Centre of Advanced Studies of the University of Regensburg, Germany. In February of 2018, Oxford University Press published his Liturgy and Byzantinization in Jerusalem : the first study dedicated to the question of the Byzantinization of Jerusalem’s liturgy, providing English translations of many liturgical texts and hymns for the first time.
2020 – Very Rev. Dr. John Behr – The Gospel of St. John as a Paschal Gospel
Fr. John Behr is the Fr. Georges Florovsky Distinguished Professor of Patristics at St.Vladimir’s Seminary, where he served as Dean from 2007-17, and the Metropolitan Kallistos Chair of Orthodox Theology at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. He has published numerous monographs with Oxford University Press and St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press (S.V.S.P.), most recently a new critical edition and translation of Origen’s On First Principles. He has also published various works aimed for more general
audiences, such as his more poetic and meditative work entitled Becoming Human: Theological Anthropology in Word and Image (S.V.S.P.,2013). He is now working on a new edition and translation of the works of Irenaeus of Lyons.
2019 – Rev. Brian E. Daley, S.J – Breathing Unity: Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue Today and its Promise for the Eastern Catholic Churches
Brian E. Daley, S.J., is the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana). A 1961 graduate of Fordham University (New York), he studied ancient history and philosophy at Merton College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, from 1961 to 1964, then entered the Society of Jesus. After theological studies in Frankfurt, Germany, and ordination to the priesthood in 1970, he returned to Oxford to do a D.Phil. in the Faculty of Theology from 1972 until 1978. He then taught historical theology for eighteen years at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before moving to Notre Dame in 1996. He is the author of The Hope of the Early Church (Cambridge, 1991; Hendrickson, 2002); Gregory of Nazianzus (Routledge, 2006); and God Visible: Patristic Christology Reconsidered (Oxford, 2018), as well as many articles. He is also the translator of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Cosmic Liturgy – The Universe according to Maximus the Confessor (Ignatius, 2003), and of collections of Byzantine homilies on the Dormition of Mary and the Transfiguration of the Lord. (St. Vladimir’s, 1998, 2013)) His critical edition of the works of the sixth-century theologian, Leontius of Byzantium, appeared in 2018. Fr. Daley is the executive secretary of the Catholic-Orthodox Consultation for North America. In the fall of 2012, he was awarded the Ratzinger Prize in Theology by Pope Benedict XVI. He is the first Jesuit and the first American to receive this award.
2018 – Archbishop Alexander (Golitzin) – The Place of the Presence of God: Aphrahat of Persia’s Portrait of the Christian Holy Man
Archbishop Alexander was born in Burbank, CA in 1948. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Divinity degree from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. He pursued doctoral studies at Oxford University in England under His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware]. During this time, he also spent two years in Greece, including one year at Simonos Petras Monastery on Mount Athos. After receiving his D.Phil., Archbishop Alexander returned to the U.S. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1982 and to the priesthood two years later. In 1986, he was tonsured to monastic orders. He served O.C.A. missions in northern California and headed the Diocese of the West’s mission committee. From 1989 to 2012, Archbishop Alexander taught in the Theology Department at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In May 2012 he was consecrated Bishop of the Bulgarian Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America and in 2016 additionally was named as Bishop of the Diocese of the South. In 2017 he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop.
2017 – Very Rev. Peter Galadza, PhD – Vatican Guidelines for Church Music: Eastern Christian Prospects and Problems
Fr. Peter Galadza is Kule Family Professor of Liturgy and Acting Director of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies. After completing his M.Div. at Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union in 1981, he was ordained to the presbyterate by Patriarch Josyf Slipyj and served in parishes until 1988, when he completed a M.A. in liturgy at the University of Notre Dame. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Saint Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. From 1994 to 2004, he edited Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, and in 1997, became convener of the Eastern Liturgies Study Group of Societas Liturgica. During the 1999-2000 academic year, Fr. Galadza served as dean of the L’viv Theological Academy in Ukraine. In 2003-2004, Fr. Galadza was a research fellow at Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Research Center in Georgetown, Washington, DC. He is also editor-in- chief of the recently published “pew book,” The Divine Liturgy: An Anthology for Worship and past president of the international Society of Oriental Liturgy. His wife, Olenka, is a high school teacher and iconographer. They have three children.
2016 – Very. Rev. Father M. Daniel Findikyan – The Mystery Hidden for Ages: An Eastern, Ecumenical Sacramental Theology
Very Rev. Fr. (Michael) Daniel Findikyan, a native of Forth Worth, Texas, is Professor of Liturgical Studies at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in New Rochelle, New York, and Director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center of the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Eastern), New York. Fr. Daniel earned his doctorate in Liturgical Studies from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, where he studied under Robert Taft, SJ. He also earned a Master’s degree in musicology from the City University of New York.
2015 – Dr. Scott Hahn – “The Our Father as a Synthesis of the Pattern of Scripture”
An exceptionally popular speaker and teacher, Dr. Scott Hahn has delivered numerous talks nationally and internationally on a wide variety of topics related to Scripture and the Catholic faith. Hundreds of these talks have been produced on audio and videotapes by St. Joseph Communications. His talks have been effective in helping thousands of Protestants and fallen away Catholics to (re)embrace the Catholic faith.
2014 – Dr. Sister Vassa Larin – “The Saints and the ‘Communion of Saints’ in the Byzantine Tradition”
Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin (born Varvara Georgievna Larina, December 11, 1970 in Nyack, New York, United States) is a Russian Orthodox ryassofor nun, the host of the popular show “Coffee with Sr. Vassa”, author of many scholarly articles and a monograph on Byzantine liturgy and theology, and outspoken public intellectual on current issues of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). She teaches Liturgical Studies at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Vienna in Austria. Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin is a member of two Commissions of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church: the Commission on “Liturgy and Church Art”, and the Commission for “Canon Law”.
(Audio not available)
2013 – Monsignor John A. Radano – “The Continuing Reconciliation Between Orthodox & Catholics: A Key to Ecumenical Progress in the 21st Century”
Monsignor John A. Radano is currently Adjunct Professor, School of Theology at Seton Hall University. While at the University he served on the faculty of the Department of Religious Studies from 1965 to 1984 and was chairman of the department from 1977 to 1984. In 1984, Msgr. Radano was appointed as a staff member of the Pontifica Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Vatican City and head of its Western section, where he served until 2008. Monsignor Radano has written numerous books and has published many articles in the New Catholic Encyclopedia and L’Osservatore Romano among others.
2012 – Dr. Lewis J. Patsavos – “Canonical Challenges Facing the Orthodox Church in America”
Dr. Lewis J. Patsavos is Professor Emeritus of Canon Law and Director of Field Study at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA. Dr. Patsavos holds a Licentiate and Doctorate in Theology from the University of Athens, Greece. He also completed certified theological studies at the the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, the University of Munich, the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. Dr. Patsavos is a world-renowned scholar and authority on Canon Law. He has authored numerous books and articles and is currently completing a textbook on Orthodox Canon Law based on more than 35 years of academic research and teaching experience.
2011 – Dr. Robin Darling Young – “Evagrius the Monk and the Care of Souls”
Robin Darling Young is presently Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, IN. She earned both an M A and PhD at the University of Chicago Divinity School with a specialization in the History of Christianity. Dr. Young has written, translated or co-edited six books, twenty-five articles of chapters in books and encyclopedias and book reviews in numerous theological journals and magazines. Among her chief interests are the languages and cultures of the ancient Christian East, viz. Greek, Syriac and Armenian.
2010 – Very Rev. John H. Erickson – “Baptism in the Eastern Christian Tradition: Ecclesial Context, Faith Content”
Fr. John Erickson is former Dean and Professor Emeritus of Church History at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY, where he taught from 1973 until his retirement in summer 2009. His main “hobby” over the years has been liturgical music; with his wife Helen, he has adapted and edited five volumes of Orthodox liturgical music for use in English. Fr. John has published several books and over sixty articles and book chapters.
2009 – Rev. Ronald G. Roberson – “Catholic-Orthodox Relations: Hopes for the Future”
Rev. Ronald G. Roberson is the Associate Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, DC. He holds a Masters of Arts in Theology from Catholic University of America, Washington, DC and a Doctorate (summa cum laude) in Oriental Ecclesiastical Sciences from the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome. Fr. Roberson received the “James Fitzgerald Award for Ecumenism” for his outstanding contribution and service in the work of Christian Unity from the National Association of Diocesan Ecumenical Officers. Father Ronald is the author of numerous articles in various magazines and journals.
2008 – Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis – “Remembering Sacred Silence”
Fr. Deacon John Chryssavgis received his Theology degree from the University of Athens, a diploma in Byzantine Music from the Greek Conservatory of Music, a research scholarship to St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary and a doctoral degree in Patristics from the University of Oxford. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on the Church Fathers and Orthodox Spirituality Fr. John currently serves as theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues.
2007 – Father Paul McPartlan – “The Promise and Challenge of Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue”
Father Paul McPartlan is the Carl J. Peter Professor of Systemic Theology and Ecumenism at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Fr. McPartlan holds a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Cambridge, the STL degree from Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and a Ph D from the University of Oxford. His areas of expertise include ecclesiology, Eucharist, ecumenism, and Vatican II. A prolific writer Fr. McPartlan has published several books and regularly contributes to research through professional journals.
2006 – Professor Valerie A. Karras – “Women in Byzantine Liturgy”
Dr. Valerie Karras is an assistant professor of church history at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. She has done much research on women in early and Byzantine Christianity, gender in early church theology and Orthodox Christianity in ecumenical, inter-religious and feminist conversations. Dr. Karras has earned doctorates in patristic theology from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki and in church history from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. The author of many publications, Dr. Karras has had her work appear in many scholarly journals.
2005 – Professor Sebastian Brock – “Two Syriac Saints for Today: St. Ephrem and St. Isaac the Syrian”
Dr. Sebastian Brock is an eminent Syriac scholar retired from the Oriental Institute at Oxford University. Since retirement, he has taught at the Oriental Institute in Rome and in institutes in India and Budapest. Dr. Brocks’ career as a researcher and educator is one of distinction. He has taught at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Birmingham University. Dr Brock has published a number of books on the Syriac saints and has served as editor and main contributor to a three volume series on the Syrian Orthodox Church.
2004 – Rev. Joseph Thomas Lienhard – “The Plagues of Egypt, Spiritual Interpretation, and the Old Testament in the Church”
Father Joseph Lienhard, S.J. is currently Professor of Theology at Fordham University in New York. The author of numerous scholarly articles, Father Lienhard has received many awards for his teaching, including the Lawrence G. Haggerty Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence, Marquette University and the Teacher of the Year Award, Graduate Students’ Association, Fordham University.
2003 – Father Thomas Hopko – “Made Perfect Through Suffering… On Christ’s Humiliation and Human Deification”
Very Reverend Thomas Hopko was rector, dean and professor at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theology Seminary in Yonkers, New York. During his years at St Vladimir’s he taught courses in dogmatic theology, practical theology, homiletics and spirituality. Father Hopko published widely, writing books and numerous learned articles.
2002 – Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia – “Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholics: Problem or Opportunity?”
Bishop Kallistos Ware is a native of Bath England and was educated at Westminster School, London and at Magdalen College. Oxford. He founded the Orthodox parish in Oxford where he remains pastor. Bishop Kallistos has written widely on the history and faith of the Orthodox Church. He is the co-editor of Sobornost,, the journal of Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius . He is particularly interested in promoting ecumenical unity.
2001 – Reverend Archimandrite Robert F. Taft – “Eastern Catholic Theology: Slow Rebirth after a Long and Difficult Gestation”
Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Robert F. Taft, S.J. was the Vice Rector and Ordinary Professor of Liturgy at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Fr. Taft was an internationally acclaimed authority on the Byzantine Liturgy and published more than a dozen books and over six hundred scholarly articles.
