ABOUT

The founders of the society, Frs. Patrick Viscuso and Bartholomew Mercado, conceived of the idea of an academic organization in 2022 and obtained the blessing of their hierarch, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros. His Eminence invited the hierarchs of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of The United States of America to encourage participation in the newly formed society. Through the generous efforts of a pro bono attorney, the society was incorporated as a non-profit.

 

The first organizational meeting in October 2023 was a success with the establishment of officers and board members. At the same time, the society held a reception and workshop commemorating the centennial year of the 1923 Pan-Orthodox Congress. 

 

The inaugural conference of the Society took place on October 18–19, 2024 at the Maliotis Cultural Center located on the campus of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, 50 Goddard Avenue, Brookline, MA. The conference included 17 presentations by Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholics, and others who gathered to provide papers embodying current research on all aspects of canonical studies and for discussions of canonical praxis in a professional setting. The Orthodox Christian Attorney Network partnered with the Society and sponsored the luncheon program on the confidentiality of Orthodox confession and its implications in litigation. The conference speakers demonstrated the quality of their scholarship and the scope of this multidisciplinary field. By the end of the conference, there were eighty participants.

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The Rev. Dr. Patrick Viscuso, the president of the Society, stated regarding the inaugural conference, “We adopted an academic culture of avoiding invited papers and structuring a program based on the submission of paper proposals in the form of abstracts that were chosen based on a blind evaluation process. We feel that this opened a greater opportunity for the presentation of the most current research; and will prevent stratification and elitism. In addition, the moderators of each conference session introduced the presenters very simply, with their names and the title of their papers, one after the other without elaborate biographies. After three 20–25-minute papers, the audience was then encouraged to participate during each session’s 45-minute discussion period. In this way, more time was given to concentrate on the contributions of each presenter and to share ideas. In the future, only very exceptionally will we accommodate virtual presentations. The in-person conference for presenters and participants provides a greater opportunity for individual engagement, learning, and networking; and thus promotes our aim of fostering growth in the study of the Orthodox canonical tradition.”

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The Governing Board is moving forward with plans for a second annual conference returning to the Maliotis Cultural Center on  October 24–25, 2025.