John S. Romanides

Father John S. Romanides (1927 - 2001) was a prominent 20th century Orthodox Christian priest, theologian, and writer.

Life

Fr. Romanides was ordained in 1951 while studying at Yale University Divinity School, and served at Holy Trinity Church in Waterbury, Connecticut, from 1951 till 1954. After finishing his studies at Yale he was transferred for the summer of 1954 to Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York City until he left for studies at St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris (1954-55). He did his doctoral work at the University of Athens from 1956 to 1957. He was appointed professor at Holy Cross, Brookline, Massachusetts, where he taught between 1957 and 1965 while continuing his studies and research at the Harvard Divinity School and then at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. All this time, between 1957 to 1968, he was also a parish priest. He was appointed to the parish of Newport, New Hampshire, in 1958. Then in 1959 he was appointed the first priest of St. Athanasius The Great Orthodox Church in Arlington, Massachusetts, which he helped found and organize. He resigned from Holy Cross in 1965 in protest over the removal of Father Georges Florovsky from the faculty by Archbishop Iakovos. Between 1965 and 1968 Father Romanides served as the pastor of Holy Apostles' Parish in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was professor of dogmatics at the University of Thessalonike from 1970 until his retirement in 1984. From 1970 on, he also taught at the University of Balamand in Lebanon. He continued to teach even after his retirement.

He also represented the Church of Greece as member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and in the dialogues with the Lutherans and the Oriental Orthodox.

His legacy lives on through his more then 2,000 students, including many priests, monks, and at least 10 bishops.

Works

Romanides argued for the existence of "national, cultural and even linguistic unity between East and West Romans" until the intrusion and takeover of the West Romans (the Roman Catholics) by the Franks (German tribes).

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• Franks, Romans, Feudalism, and Doctrine: An Interplay Between Theology and Society (1982) ISBN 0916586545
• Ancestral Sin (2002) ISBN 0970730314
• An Outline of Orthodox Patristic Dogmatics with George Dion Dragas, editor. (2004) ISBN 0974561843

Sources

• Fabrications about Prof. John S. Romanides by Capuchino Priest Ianni Spiteri - A response to Yannis Spiteris, La teologia ortodossa neo-greca (Bologna, Italy: Edizioni Dehoniane, 1992) 281-295.

External links

• The Romans: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Website honoring Fr. John and archiving many of his writings (and those of others)
• Photo (high-resolution version): Rev. Prof. John S. ROMANIDES (Greece), Church of Greece, member of the WCC Central Committee, elected by the WCC 8th Assembly, Harare, Zimbabwe, December 1998 (JPEG; © PhotoOikoumene, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland)