4th Conference's description
4th Conference's description
4th International Conference of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Pastoral Health Care
October 11-15, 2017
Rhodes
The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, with the blessings of the Ecumenical Patriarch, has decided that the 4th International Conference of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Pastoral Health Care will be held from the 11th until the 15th of October, 2017 in Rhodes.
The theme of the Conference is: “Rekindling Hope - Finding hope in the difficulties of life”. This theme was concluded upon in observing that people today find themselves in a state of deep despair and suffer from a lack of meaning more than in any other time in history. For this reason they cannot find the strength needed to combat – and to make a comeback from – the many difficulties they encounter during their life time. The ability to deal with these difficulties becomes even more complex due to the various interpretations of the meaning of hope, which often are contrary to the way hope is understood in Orthodox anthropology and is expressed in the tradition of the Church.
Those invited to the Conference are representatives of the Metropolises belonging spiritually and administratively to the Patriarchate, representatives of the other Patriarchates and the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches, those that are responsible for pastoral education in the Theological Schools and Ecclesiastical Academies in Greece and abroad, representatives from other Christian Churches, international organizations, as well as others that serve and are related to the pastoral care of the sick and medical care.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate holds a Conference every three years (2008, 2011, 2014), organized by the Patriarchal Network for Pastoral Health Care. These Conferences give the opportunity for local Churches, medical professionals and health care workers to share their experiences and to discuss their difficulties on an international level. In addition to this, the Conferences serve as a support setting and bases upon which Holy Metropolises and health care professionals can organize similar events to provide training and ongoing education.