St Cyril’s was delighted to host internationally renowned patristics scholar and Orthodox theologian Fr John Anthony McGuckin as our 2020 Winter Lecturer on August 29, 2020. Due to the current situation, the Lecture was delivered via virtual webinar.
LECTURE: "St Cyril of Alexandria: A model of reconciliation for the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches?"
Despite years of dialogues and recent eirenic agreements, the great separation of the Orthodox family of churches, who share so much in common, continues into its sixteenth century. The last synod that brought together Coptic, Ethiopic, Latin and Greek representatives in the cause of speaking about reconciliation, was in Florence in 1439. There they adopted an axiom: “Saints cannot diverge in faith.” It seems an interesting starting point for us to consider in this lecture how St. Cyril of Alexandria, the great patristic authority on Christology, honoured throughout the Orthodox families, might still serve as a reconciling force to heal our divisions. The lecture will consider this in regard to his dogmatics, his attitude to synods and the reconciliation of schisms, and his spiritual theology.
SPEAKER: The Very Revd. Professor John Anthony McGuckin is an Archpriest of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Romania. He is the Nielsen Emeritus Professor of Church History, Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, in New York; and currently is Professor of Early Christian Thought in the Theological Faculty of Oxford University. He is a Fellow of the British Royal Historical Society, and has authored more than thirty books on patristic thought and spirituality.