Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary’s College
Notre Dame, Ind. 46556
(574-284-4579
October 8, 2008 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—Dr. John Fotopoulos, associate professor of Religious Studies at Saint Mary's College, will attend the Pauline Symposium of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople for the 2008 Year of St. Paul. This international academic conference on St. Paul will be held in various cities of historical significance in Turkey and Greece, October 11-17, 2008. The Orthodox Christian Church is sponsoring the event, which celebrates the 2008-2009 Jubilee Year of St. Paul. Fotopoulos is the only Orthodox Pauline scholar from the United States to be invited to attend.
“I am delighted to be representing Saint Mary’s College and the Greek Orthodox Church of America as we travel to important ancient sites in Turkey and Greece associated with St. Paul’s Christian mission,” Fotopoulos said. “The opportunity to travel and discuss elements of Paul’s letters with leading scholars from around the world will be an experience that I will cherish and look forward to sharing with my students in the classroom.”
His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople (the spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians) organized this conference in conjunction with an extraordinary council of the heads of the Orthodox Churches from around the world. Fotopoulos will accompany Archbishop Demetrios, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church of America, on the trip.
“The invitation to Dr. Fotopoulos is a great honor,” said Professor Phyllis Kaminski, chair of the Religious Studies Department. “It prompts all of us at Saint Mary’s to rejoice that our students interact with an internationally recognized Pauline scholar in the general education and religious studies majors courses that John teaches.”
Fotopoulos is one of the few Pauline scholars in the world to have been invited to the academic conferences of both the Orthodox Christian Church and the Roman Catholic Church celebrating the Jubilee Year of St. Paul. Fotopoulos recently traveled to Rome for the Colloquium Paulinum, a small academic conference of international Pauline scholars that met under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church and was hosted by the Abbey of St Paul Outside the Walls, a Papal Basilica that contains the traditional Tomb of St. Paul.
Plans are being discussed for a Jubilee Year of St. Paul event at Saint Mary’s later this academic year where Fotopoulos can discuss the symposium and Pauline scholarship, the academic study of St. Paul and his letters.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. The College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary's College ranks among the nation's top liberal arts colleges in U.S. News & World Report's 2009 annual survey. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
