News & Updates : Month: March 2023
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FIRST HCHC VOCATIONS RETREAT “BE ATTENTIVE” A GREAT SUCCESS
Twenty-one men from across North America took part in a first-of-its-kind vocations retreat called “Be Attentive” on the campus of Hellenic College Holy Cross from March 16-18. Named after the liturgical command proclaimed before the reading of the Gospel, this retreat consisted of formal presentations offered by six clergymen, Chapel services, devotional experiences, and stimulating conversations amongst attendees, priests, and current students, all designed to help the participants more clearly understand what a priest is, what he does, and how a call to ordained ministry may manifest in their lives. Presenting to the group were Fr. Peter Orfanakos, Fr. Stavros...
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HCHC TRUSTEE CREATES $1 MILLION CHALLENGE GRANT
In the wake of an outstanding ten-year accreditation review from The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), Helen A. Carlos, exemplary Trustee of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HCHC) recently announced a $1 million ninety-day challenge grant. Her intention is to inspire others to give HCHC the working capital needed to further advance its ongoing strategic initiative to boost enrollment, ensure academic excellence, cultivate spiritual growth, and enhance the campus and its facilities. “We’re fooling ourselves if we think our parishes, families, and Archdiocese can grow and prosper without a strong Orthodox school of higher...
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HCHC FULL ACCREDITATION REAFFIRMED
On March 3, 2023, the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) continued its full accreditation of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology following its ten-year comprehensive evaluation last fall and a final meeting on March 2. As part of the evaluation process, a self-study of more than 250 pages was required, a project that consumed thousands of hours to prepare in advance of the site visit of a team from NECHE. The team was on campus from October 30 to November 3, 2022, to meet with members of the administration, trustees, faculty, staff, student body, and...
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HOLY CROSS OFFERS ONLINE MASTER OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES DEGREE
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology has received approval by the New England Commission of Higher Education to offer the Master of Theological Studies (MTS) degree online as well as on campus beginning this September. This is the School of Theology's second online degree offering, following approval in March 2022 of an online Master of Theology (ThM) program. Thanks to these programs, the reach of our graduate school is now truly global, allowing students to pursue advanced theological studies from anywhere in the world. Rev. Dr. George Parsenios, Dean of Holy Cross, says, "We are delighted that we can...
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DEACONESSES: A TRADITION FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW JUST PUBLISHED BY HOLY CROSS ORTHODOX PRESS
Deaconesses: A Tradition for Today and Tomorrow has just been published by Holy Cross Orthodox Press. This collection of twenty-one essays by well-known scholars examines the issue of the ordination of women to the diaconate in the Orthodox Church and other Christian Churches from multiple perspectives: historical, patristic, archeological, theological, and liturgical. The collection makes a persuasive argument for the restoration of the order of deaconesses in the Orthodox Church today. Most of the essays in the collection were presented at an international symposium, “Deaconesses: Past-Present-Future,” organized by the Center of Ecumenical, Missiological and Environmental Studies (CEMES) and the International...
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DAVID KARLE WINS HELLENIC COLLEGE HUMANITIES PAPER PRIZE
David Karle has just been named the winner of the fifth annual Hellenic College Humanities Paper Prize, which is awarded by the Literature and History program. David's paper, titled "Hand Me Down, Reform Me Not: The Divergent Paths of Eastern and Western Theology in the History of the Reformation," was written in Fr. Demetrios Tonias’ Great Christian Thinkers course last spring. The paper was selected by the prize committee, consisting of Drs. Timothy Patitsas, Kathleen Ryan, and James Skedros, from a pool of outstanding submissions written in courses during the 2021-22 academic year. David’s paper reflects upon the religious reformation...