Pastoral Theology and Care Group

Chairs:

Rev. Dr. Harry S. Pappas, Pastor Emeritus Archangels Greek Orthodox Church (CT, United States)

A native of St. Louis, Fr. Harry grew up at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, and is a graduate of Davidson College, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Harvard Divinity School, and Yale University, where he earned a Ph.D. in the Old Testament.  Along with 40 years of pastoral experience in various parishes (including Nashville, Minneapolis, New Rochelle, NY, & Stamford), he has taught courses in Biblical Hebrew at Yale; Old Testament, Pastoral Theology, Parish Administration, and Preaching at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary and Holy Cross.  Fr. Harry has participated in short-term missions in Albania, Mexico & Guatemala; ministry to the homeless (New York City and Stamford); served as Spiritual Advisor to Philoptochos Caregiver Support Groups; facilitates a Clergy Peer Group; and has been an active participant in various ecumenical and interfaith organizations.  He is a member of the Orthodox Theological Society of America (OTSA), serves on the Board of Directors of the International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA), and the Advisory Board Huffington Ecumenical Institute (HEI) at Holy Cross.  Fr. Harry has been married to Kerry (Kaloudis) for 44 years since they met at Seminary, and they are blessed with three children and six grandchildren.  Fr. Harry enjoys reading, physical exercise, nature, and good movies.

Rev. Dr. Vasileios Thermos, Professor Emeritus University Ecclesiastical Academy (Athens, Greece)

Rev. Vasileios Thermos, M.D., Ph.D., was born in 1957 at Lefkada, Greece. He studied at the Medical School of Athens University and after he graduated he studied at the Theological School of the same University. He specialized in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry which he practiced in Athens until his retirement in 2024. In 1986 and 1987 he was ordained and served at the diocese of Viotia. He has been engaged in training programs for clergy in Greece, Cyprus, USA, Finland, Estonia.

In 1996-97 he was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Divinity School; he took classes also in Harvard School of Arts and Humanities, Boston College, Boston University, Andover Newton Theological School. In 1997 he received his PhD in Pastoral Psychology from the Theological School of Athens University. In 2014 he worked for 3 months as a Visiting Research Scholar at the Institute of Medical Humanities of the Medical School of Texas University on a project about homosexuality and contemporary gender theories. He has also conducted a research on clergy health and burnout.

He has written numerous books and articles in Greek; some of them have been translated into English, French, Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Spanish, Italian, German, Finnish. He is the editor of a journal in Greek (Psyches dromoi: Ways of the Soul), published every 6 months, on the relationships between theology/religion and psychiatry/psychology (first issue in May 2011).

In 2004 a master thesis on his total work appeared by Peter Kazaku at the Theological School of Balamand University, Lebanon. This thesis was updated and enriched, thus forming the book “Orthodoxy and Psychoanalysis: Dirge or Polychronion to the Centuries-old Tradition?”, which was published in 2013 by Peter Lang publications in the series ‘European University Studies’, volume 938. Also in 2020 another master thesis appeared in the School of Theology of the University of Vienna, by Gabriella Moutsatsos: Ansätze der Οrthodoxen  Pastoralpsychologie der Gegenwart: Simeon Kragiopoulos und Vasileios Thermos.

During 2001-2013 he was a Visiting Professor of Pastoral Psychology and Psychology of Religion in the Theological Academy of the Orthodox Church of Albania. From 2013 until 2024 he taught Pastoral Theology and Pastoral Psychology in the University Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens; he is now retired.

In 2017-18 his essay The Paradox of Mental Health Care and Spirituality: The Culture of Extreme Individualism as a Mediator was awarded the prize on the “Culture, Care, and Spirituality” contest by the Jean-Marc Fischer Foundation in Switzerland.

Books in English: Thirst for Love and Truth (2010); The Forgotten Mystery (2016); Psychology in the Service of the Church (2017); Sexual orientation and Gender identity (2019); Nocturnal Flights to Truth (2022); The Dramatic Journey of Faith (2024); The Alliance of Compassion and Integrity (2024).

Edited volumes: with Rev. Stephen Muse, Words into Spirit (2019); with Evdoxia Delli, Self and Psyche as a Surprise (2021); with Evdoxia Delli, Human Meaning at the Borders (2025).

Steering Committee:

Evangelia Amirali, McGill University (Montreal, Canada)

Smaranda Buju, Technical University “Gheorghe Asachi” (Iaşi, Romania)

Pekka Metso, University of Eastern Finland (Joensuu, Finland)

Vision Statement

The Pastoral Theology & Care Group of IOTA seeks to engage theologians and scholars throughout the world to reflect upon and apply the rich theological witness of the Orthodox Church to the full range of pastoral work today. The identity and purpose of ordained ministry – bishop, priest, deacon – can only be properly explored in the context of a rediscovery and renewal of the royal priesthood of the baptized who are also called to extend the saving work of Christ in daily life. In an era of rapid cultural, scientific, technological, and material changes, this group will seek to explore how the Church’s theological tradition, in concert with all fields of knowledge, can properly address the myriad issues of human development and caregiving in all facets – personal identity and formation, marriage and family, health and sickness, isolation and community, justice in society, and care for creation. As the Fathers had been bold enough to employ the secular knowledge of the time (philosophy and science) in the purpose of articulating doctrine and overall faith, our group holds the conviction that current secular knowledge (particularly psychology), being the ‘language’ of contemporary people, has the capacity to offer essential service in better knowing humanity and applying the most appropriate pastoral guidance and care.