Official Opening of the 2nd International Conference on Orthodox Pastoral Care and Digital Media, “Living Water 2018”

On Monday, June 18, 2018, at 9 a.m., the proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care, entitled "Living Water 2018", began at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolymvari, Chania.

At the official opening, after the messages of the Ecumenical Patriarch and the other primates of the Orthodox Churches, the director of Pemptousia, Mr. Nikolaos Gouraros, announced the establishment of the international church news agency Orthodoxia News Agency.

Afterwards, the keynote address was given by Professor Emeritus of the School of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Mr. Georgios Mantzaridis, who approached the pastoral care of digital media on the basis of Orthodox anthropology.

This was followed by a speech by the venerable abbot of the Vatopedi Orthodox Monastery, Elder Ephraim, under whose blessing and inspiration the conference is being held. The venerable abbot highlighted and emphasized, in a way that made a special impression on all those present, the potential of digital media in the evangelization of the entire world.

The sessions brought up for discussion particularly interesting and burning issues, the importance and dimensions of which constitute a challenge for the Church, but also for society as a whole. The relationship of the digital ecosystem with children and young people and its impact on them, new digital devices and their relationships with subjects, digital advertising and its use in the pastoral care of the Church, the connection of asceticism and fasting with digital life, were some of the topics raised by the speakers.

On Tuesday, 19/6, the second day of the conference, the very interesting presentations by the 104 invited speakers from across the Orthodox world continue.

The highlight of the day was considered by the audience to be the round table on the topic: “The progress of artificial intelligence as a challenge for theology”. Under the chairmanship of Fr. Grigorios Stamkopoulos, professor at the AEATH, a discussion was held with university professors Ioannis Antoniou, Panagiotis Bamidis, sociologist-theologian Konstantinos Zorbas, Director of the Orthodox Academy of Crete and His Eminence Metropolitan of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, Mr. Nikolaos.

Key concepts were highlighted and discussed, such as artificial intelligence, the power of data processing, the semantic web, behavioral and ethical formalism, mathematical ontology, theological ontology, the soul, and others. The discussion aroused the interest of the participants and was followed by a multitude of questions and positions.

The conference will continue its intensive work in plenary and parallel sessions until the evening of Thursday, June 21, when it will be declared closed. It is recalled that interested parties can follow the proceedings of the Conference directly from the “Pemptousia” website.