Dr. Chrysostomos Stamoulis, a widely admired and influential theologian, returned to HCHC earlier this month for the fourth time as a visiting scholar and guest lecturer. Dr. Stamoulis is Professor of Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology in the Department of Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is also the Church of Greece’s representative to the European Council of Churches. This visit was eagerly anticipated by the HCHC community, especially by those who have had the privilege of hearing him lecture in the past. During his most recent visit, Dr. Stamoulis again offered lectures in Hellenic College’s Community Engagement class and the Holy Cross Social Ethics course and delivered the homily at Vespers. Most notably, he gave the keynote address on “Reception and Change: The Mystery of the Transfiguration in the Three Hierarchs” at a Celebration of Theological Letters and was the featured speaker at the annual St. Photios Faith and Learning Symposium. Dr. Stamoulis first came to our campus in 2016 for an extended stay while on sabbatical from the Aristotle University. He came at the invitation of Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Clapsis, Archbishop Iakovos Professor of Orthodoxy at Holy Cross, and describes those two months on campus as “a dream come true. In my department at home we have 2,000 students and 31 professors. To be here in a small school where students and faculty interact so personally is very special. And I have several close friends on the Holy Cross faculty, including Fr. Clapsis, who made me feel at home immediately.” Although best known in academia as a theologian and prolific author whose works have been published in numerous languages, Dr. Stamoulis is an equally accomplished composer and conductor of choral music, with five CDs to his credit. He traces his interests in both theology and music to his father. “My father was a psaltis—one of the best—and loved Greek secular music too. He taught me to play the accordion, I studied flute too for nine years, and sang in a choir from the age of eleven.” Currently, Dr. Stamoulis is the director of a choir that sings contemporary Greek music.
In addition to being a frequent presence on our campus, Dr. Stamoulis has greatly benefited our school as a host and facilitator for HCHC’s President, Fr. Metropulos, on visits to a number of top private high schools in Thessaloniki and Athens from which students might come to further their education at Hellenic College. Thanks to his academic and political connections, he is also helping HCHC obtain full recognition of all its degree programs by the Greek Ministry of Education, which will extend to the entire EU. “I really like what happens here,” he says. “We have to connect this school with Greece more strongly and I am happy to do what I can to strengthen that connection”.
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