March 4, Anthony Elia, director of the Bridwell Library and associate dean for Special Collections and Academic Publishing at SMU Dallas, for a commentary about how congregations of the Eastern Orthodox Church worldwide cope with a range of crises. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading Seeking peace in Greece: An SMU assistant dean’s trip kindles hope for a scarred world: https://tinyurl.com/2kdptxcc
Halfway between Athens and Thessaloniki, on the shores of the Pagasetic Gulf, is a mountainside city that graduates into Homer’s wine-dark sea, a place called Volos, home of the mythic characters Jason and the Argonauts, who, as the ancients believed, set sail from here in search of the Golden Fleece. Today, it is a vibrant town with an abundance of lethargic dogs, political graffiti and some of the world’s best coffee on every corner. I went recently to meet with more than 400 attendees of the International Orthodox Theological Association. The outcomes were both refreshing and profound, each contending with real world issues.