Respondents
Rev. Dr. Sotirios Boukis is the senior pastor of the Greek Evangelical Church of Thessaloniki. He serves at the WCC Commission on Faith and Order as co-chair of the ecclesiology study group, and as member of the Steering Committee of the upcoming Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order, which will take place in Egypt on October, on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. He teaches systematic and ecumenical theology at the Greek Bible College, has been involved in research on Orthodox–Evangelical relationships, and on global Christianity.
Dr. Tamara Grdzelidze is a distinguished theologian and scholar with degrees from Tbilisi University, St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary, and Oxford University. She conducted research in Georgian hagiography and taught Georgian literature in Georgia before serving from 2001 to 2013 as a programme executive for the WCC Commission on Faith and Order in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2014, she was appointed Ambassador of Georgia to the Holy See. Dr. Grdzelidze has published extensively on topics such as Georgian hagiography, church history, Orthodoxy, and inter-confessional dialogue, including notable works like Georgian Monks on Mount Athos: Two Eleventh Century Lives of the Hegoumenoi of Iviron (2009) and Reading the Gospels with the Early Church: A Guide (2013).
Dr. Eleni Kasselouri-Hatzivassiliadi is a Research and Studies Officer of the Greek National Center for Public Administration & Local Government and a visitor lecturer at the International Hellenic University (2022-), teaching public administration and gender pedagogy. She was a visitor lecturer at the Neapolis Pafos University and the Hellenic Open University (2009-2021), staff member of Volos Academy for Theological Studies (2003-2011), a gender expert at the Departments of Psychology and Pedagogic of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2004-2007) and the National Research Center on Gender Equality (2001-2004). She was the Vice-President of European Society of Women in Theological Research (1999-2001), a member of the steering groups of WCC programs “Women’s Voices and Visions on Being Church” (2002-2006) and “Women in Church and Society” (2007-2021), of two advisory groups of WCC on gender issues and human sexuality (2018-2021) and co-opted WCC staff in both, Porto Alegre (2006) and Busan (2013) General Assemblies. Her books and articles are in Greek, English and German.
Dr. Petros Panagiotopoulos studied Physics and Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is a lecturer at the Theological School of the Orthodox University of the Congo and Corresponding Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life in Vatican. His academic discipline is “Pastoral ethics of scientific applications” and teaches the courses “Introduction to Ethics”, “Christian Ethics and Bioethics”, “Modern Science and Orthodox Theology”, “Pastoral Theology and Scientific Ethics,” and “Modern Trends in Mission”. He is also President of Theologian Assembly “Kairos”, and member of the editorial board of the Pastoral Review of the Church of Greece “Efimerios (Pastor)“.
Dr. Athanasios N. Papathanasiou, born in 1959, is Associate Professor of Missiology, Intercultural Christian Witness and Dialogue, at the Supreme Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens, Greece. He also teaches at the post-graduate Program of the Hellenic Open University. He is the editor of the Greek theological quarterly “Synaxis”, and member of The European Society for Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies. He obtained first-hand experience in short-term missions in Kenya (1995), Nigeria (2000) and Tanzania (2004), and served as a member of the “Mission Work and Evangelization Committee” of the Metropolis of Nigeria. His research focuses on Missiology, Cross-cultural Studies and Political Theology.
Dr. Angeliki Ziaka, Professor at the School of Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Strasbourg. She has led numerous interfaith initiatives, including Christian-Muslim educational programs, and played a key role in establishing the university’s BA in Islamic Studies. Her work spans early and medieval Islamic thought, Byzantine writings on Islam, interreligious dialogue, and Religious Education. A former fellow at Leiden University and Columbia University’s Middle East Institute, Prof. Ziaka has published widely in her field. As of September 2024, she serves as Programme Executive for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation at the World Council of Churches, advocating dialogue as the antidote to fear, ignorance, and division.