The Volos Academy for Theological Studies, in co-operation with the Romanian Institute for Inter-Orthodox, Inter-Confessional and Inter-Religious Studies (INTER, Cluj-Napoca, Romania), the Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University (USA), the Chair of Orthodox Theology, Münster University (Germany), the Christian Cultural Center of Belgrade (Serbia), the Institute for the Study of Culture and Christianity (Belgrade, Serbia), the St Andrews Biblical Theological Institute (Moscow), and the European Forum of the Orthodox Schools of Theology (EFOST, Brussels), with the support of the Orthodox Metropolis of Cluj, and the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of Babes-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca, Romania), has organized on international conference, to be held May 23-26, 2013, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, entitled: “Can Orthodox Theology Be Contextual?  Concrete Approaches from the Orthodox Tradition.”
    Back in June 2010, a conference was organized in Volos, Greece, by the Volos Academy and many of the same institutions which are co-organizing the current conference in Romania, entitled “Neo-Patristic Synthesis or Post-Patristic Theology: Can Orthodox Theology be Contextual?” which was a tremendous success: the papers given were of the highest quality, attendance was high, and viewership through the internet (which was broadcast in Greek and English) received 12,000 hits from 32 different countries. The conference also provoked a very lively discussion in Greece and throughout the Orthodox world, which, again, is a sign of its success.
    For this reason, a follow-up conference was deemed necessary to provide concrete examples of...
contextual theology that would manifest the organizers’ true intent—to provide an Orthodox theology that would engage in a sophisticated manner with the challenges and questions of the contemporary situation. Rather than ignoring the Fathers, the conference hopes to show the relevance of the Fathers today. Considering that many of the contemporary questions and challenges were unknown in the time of the Fathers, the conference hopes to highlight the need for a construction assimilation of their thought.