Metropolitan Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina presented an award to Fr Andrew Louth, Professor Emeritus at Durham University in the United Kingdom, in recognition of his contribution to the study and promotion of patristic theology.
Last Friday, the Moldavian Cross, the highest distinction awarded by the Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina, was presented during the international symposium The Patristic Tradition Today, held at the Metropolitan Museum in Iași.
This year’s symposium centred on the theme “The Reception of the Church Fathers in Modern Thought”. The proceedings examined how the writings and thought of the Church Fathers have shaped modern and contemporary theology, philosophy and cultural discourse, and how patristic ideas have been interpreted and received across different intellectual contexts.
One highlight of this year’s edition honoured Fr Andrew Louth’s academic work. Special guests included John Behr, Lewis Ayres, and Bogdan G. Bucur, along with about 20 scholars specialising in patristics, theology, and philosophy.
Fr Andrew Louth
Fr. Andrew Louth is a Fellow of the British Academy and a leading figure in contemporary patristic studies. He has served as editor of Sobornost and of academic series devoted to early Christianity, including Oxford Early Christian Studies and Early Christian Writings.
His research has addressed topics including the life and work of St Gregory Palamas, the secular and humanist tradition in late Byzantine theology, and the understanding of love as a theological virtue across the Eastern and Western Christian traditions.
Ordained to the priesthood in 2003, Fr Andrew Louth is also known to Romanian readers through translations of several of his major works, including Denys the Areopagite: An Introduction, Discerning the Mystery: An Essay on the Nature of Theology, The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys and St John Damascene: Tradition and Originality in Byzantine Theology.
Photo: Doxologia.ro / Mihail Vrăjitoru
