Speakers

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  Apostolos Kavaliotis Bishop of Tanagra
  

  Apostolos Kavaliotis

  Bishop of Tanagra

  The Bishop of Tanagra Apostolos Kavaliotis was born in Eleftheroupoli of Kavala. He studied at the Theological School and at the Pedagogical – psychological Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He holds a post doctorate in the Pedagogical Department of Primary Education, Department of Special Pedagogy and Psychology of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens and Phd too. He also holds masters: 1) in Special Education at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, specializing in autism and mental retardation, 2) in the Design of Educational Units at the University of the Aegean, specializing in gender equality and 3) in Language and Literature at the Democritus University of Thrace, specializing in the Black Sea countries. He participates with presentations in International Conferences and Meetings, while he publishes articles in international scientific journals, also in newspapers. He has written 13 research monographs on Special Education and Education, a monograph with research on the professional employment of Muslim, Roma, pomachand Christian women of the Rhodopes Law with an award from the Region of Anmak and Thrace, a monograph on the relations between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, a chapter in English in an international Vatican writing on the subject of the Eucharist and three tales, translated into English. Wiley, one of the largest publishers and a pioneer in research and education, in 2023 included Fr. Apostolos Kavaliotis among the greatest authors on autism worldwide, based on the readings of his articles. He is a member of the international consultancy IAC UNESCO, regular member of the national mental health committee, regular member of the Ministry of Health’s committees for day centers for people with DDS. He was, after a pan – Hellenic written competition and assessment tables, School Counselor of Special Education and Education of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace and Serres, North and South Aegean and regular member of the board of directors of the University General Hospital Alexandroupoli. He was a member of the Wise Committee of the Ministry of Labor with responsibility for vulnerable groups under the Ministry of Loukas Katselis, vice-president of the Association for the Protection of Minors of North Central Macedonia and Thrace, regular member of the board of directors of Special Olympics HELLAS and deputy president of the Foundation for Chronic Diseases of the Prefecture of Kavala. For his multifaceted humanitarian work he was honored with an award from the Academy of Athens in December 2007. In 2010 he was announced by the President of Special Olympics Hellas Mrs. Gianna Despotopoulou “Preacher of Volunteering” of Special Olympics in Greece. In 2011 and 2012 he was honored by the President of Special Olympics Dr. Shriver-Kennedy for the mobilization of Greek citizens in 2013 and 2014 by the President of SO HELLAS Gianna Despotopoulou. In March 2014 he was honored by the Mayor of Paggaio – Eleftheroupoli and the Mayor of Kavala Mr. K. Simitsis for his social, humanitarian, scientific and literary work. In July 2014, the World Health Organization made a special mention to his study on breastfeeding, as the best in the world. on November 8. The Vatican-based Giuseppe Scacca International Awards awarded him the 1st World Pedagogical Science Award for his research on autism, Down Syndrome and breastfeeding.

  On 16/1/2015 the President of the Hellenic Republic Mr. Karolos Papoulias awarded him the Golden Cross of theOrder of Honor, which is the highest distinction of the Hellenic Republic. He is an honorary doctor of the International University – TEI of Kavala and was declared an honorary Citizen of Thassos and Kavala. Lately he is studying on the Nature and Limits of Church (post-doc for the Theology Department of theNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens). He teaches at the Democritus University of Thrace, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens , Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Psychiatry Autism, Family and Resilience”, Interdepartmental Postgraduate Studies Program of Special Education.

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  Ilias Evaggelou Professor of Theology
  

  Ilias Evaggelou

  Professor of Theology

  Ilias Evangelou was born in Larissa. He studied theology and history at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He attended courses in Bulgarian and Old Slavic language and philology at the University “Sv. Kliment Ohridski ”of Sofia. He completed his postgraduate studies at the Department of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he submitted his Doctoral Thesis on “The translation of the Life of the New King in the context of the occult Bulgarian literature during the 13th and 14th centuries”. He is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Theology at AUTh. with the subject: “Ecclesiastical Secretariat and Spiritual Life of the Slavic Peoples”. His main works are: Linguistic and ecclesiastical reforms in Bulgaria in the 14th century. The contribution of the patriarch of Tyrnovo Efthymiou, [Hellenism and the World of Slavs, 3, University Studio Press] Thessaloniki 2002 (p. 180), Words and occult Bulgarian literature in the late Middle Ages. The case of the Life of the New Kingdom, [Hellenism and the World of the Slavs, 9, University Studio Press] Thessaloniki 2007 (p. 250), The hesychasm in the world of the South Slavs in the Ninth century. Influences on their spiritual, ecclesiastical and political life, [Pournara Publications] Thessaloniki 2010 (p. 391), Slavia Orthodoxa. Sections in the spiritual and cultural history of the Orthodox Slavic world, [Vania Publications] Thessaloniki 2011 (p. 294) and in collaboration with Professor I. Tarnanidis, Medieval Secretariat of the Slavs. History and diachronic evolution, [Kyriakidis Bros. Publications] Thessaloniki 2013 (p. 517). He organized and has taken part in a series of conferences concerning the history and culture of the Orthodox Slavic world, as well as its spiritual and cultural relations with Hellenism.

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  Petros Panagiotopoulos Assistant Professor of Theology
  

  Petros Panagiotopoulos

  Assistant Professor of Theology

  He was born in Thessaloniki in 1966. He studied Physics and Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and received a Master’s Degree and a Doctorate from the Department of Theology at AUTh. Collaborates with the same Department in a Teaching Experience Program, in the Internship of its Students and in the organization of Open Courses (NSRF Programs). He is a lecturer at the Theological Seminary of the Congolese Orthodox University. Member of the Laboratory of Social Research of Religion and Culture of the Department of Ethics and Sociology of the Department of Theology of AUTh. Curator of the moral-religious edition of the Ecumenical Patriarchate “Orthodoxy” and the Inspectorate of the Patriarchal Center for Patriarchal Studies “Heritage”. In June 2017 he was elected Assistant Professor of the Department of Theology of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In February 2018 he was sworn in and took office.

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  Athanasios Tziertzis Special Laboratory Teaching Staff in the School of Theology
  

  Athanasios Tziertzis

  Special Laboratory Teaching Staff in the School of Theology

  Athanasios Sot. Tziertzis was born in 1973 in Alexandroupoli. He holds degrees from:
  (a) the Department of Philology (with a specialization in Classical Studies), from which he also obtained his postgraduate diploma, working on a hagiographical text of historical-theological interest by a prominent intellectual of the 12th century; and
  (b) the Department of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he completed his doctoral dissertation on a topic in 19th-century Church History related to the Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim III the Magnificent.

  He worked for several years in Public Secondary Education (both General and Ecclesiastical), and since 2012 he served as a seconded teacher in the Department of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki until his transfer in 2017 to the same Department as Special Laboratory Teaching Staff (EDIP), specifically in the Sector of Church History, Christian Literature, Archaeology, and Art.

  Since then, he has mainly taught courses in Church History:
  (a) elective courses, such as “The Great Holy Church of Christ: Pages of Patriarchal History” and “Mount Athos, Monastic Centers, and Pilgrimage Sites of the Orthodox East”;
  (b) seminar courses (undergraduate and postgraduate), such as “Sources of Church History of the First and Second Millennium”; and
  (c) assigned courses depending on the Department’s needs, most recently “Church History I.”

  He has presented papers at numerous academic conferences in Greece and abroad, and his articles have been published in scholarly journals and conference proceedings. He has edited the publication of many books by university professors and bishops of the Church, and for nearly two decades he was responsible for proofreading the “Calendar of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.”

  He has an excellent command of English and a good knowledge of German, and he was awarded a DAAD scholarship in Marburg, Germany.