The work of OCDJ is proceeding on the basis of regular online seminar discussions by Orthodox Christian theologians in consultation with our Jewish and ecumenical Christian partners.
Please get in touch (info@ocdj.net) if you would like to be involved and would like the Zoom link for these online seminars.
On Monday 26 January 2026, we held a public webinar to explore both high-level Jewish-Orthodox Christian dialogue and practical educational resource development, beginning with reflections on the 12th Academic Consultation in Geneva (December 2025), which marked nearly fifty years of formal bilateral dialogue and focused on “Sanctity of Place—Sanctity of Space.”
The webinar discussion highlights how this dialogue differs from Western Christian-Jewish encounters, emphasising the need for better preparation and ongoing contact beyond biennial consultations, whilst addressing difficult questions including anti-Judaism in Orthodox liturgy, contemporary Middle Eastern politics following October 7th, and the challenge of representing diverse, non-hierarchical traditions.
Webinar participants discuss a draft educational document titled “Jews and Orthodox Christians, a Unique Relationship,” designed to help local clergy and communities understand commonalities and shared histories, and explore the OCDJ glossary project—a web-based resource creating approximately 60 annotated entries on Jewish terms and concepts for Orthodox Christian audiences.
Using a draft entry on “Halakhah and Aggadah” as a case study, the conversation revealed profound methodological challenges: avoiding both traditional Christian anti-Judaism and well-intentioned apologetics that inadvertently impose Christian categories; letting Judaism speak in its own voice through resources like My Jewish Learning whilst providing Orthodox Christian commentary; navigating the complexity that terms like “law,” “righteousness,” and even “incarnational” carry vastly different meanings across traditions; and recognising that the deepest work involves questioning inherited frameworks (such as law-versus-grace) rather than simply reassigning Jews to more palatable categories, with participants emphasising that successful interfaith education requires meticulous attention to language, authentic Jewish self-representation through collaborative partnerships, and resources that model genuine dialogue rather than mere information transfer.
Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of many of the Nazi death camps in the final months of the Second World War, we partnered in April 2025 with The Wheel journal, Volos Academy for Theological Studies, and ACER-MJO in hosting an online conference on “The Orthodox Church and the Shoah.”
Part 1
Contextualising the Shoah (Holocaust)
Why should we continue to remember the Shoah? – Rabbi Dr David Sandmel, International Council of Christians and Jews
The theological problem of the Shoah in Orthodox Christian tradition – Rev Dr Geoffrey Ready, University of Toronto
Orthodox liturgical tradition and hymns seen through the lens of the Shoah – Dr Olga Meerson, Georgetown University
Remembering the Righteous Among the Nations
The stories of Orthodox Christian saints and heroes whose courageous actions saved Jewish lives
How did the righteous become righteous? – Rev Hildo Bos, St. Nicholas Church, Amsterdam
The example of Mother Maria of Paris – Dr Andreas Alexopoulos, Volos Academy
The example of Fr Cyril Argenti – Olga Lossky
Part 2
Reckoning with Orthodox Involvement in the Shoah
Antisemitism, fascism, and direct participation in the Holocaust within Orthodox Christian nations
The Serbian church during the Shoah – Rastko Lompar, Institute for Balkan Studies
The case of the church of Romania – Dr Ionut Biliuta, Romanian Academy
Between the cross and the swastika: Orthodox bishops, Mount Athos, and Nazi-occupied Greece – Dr Nikos Kouremenos, Volos Academy
Closing Panel
The Holocaust in the context of interreligious dialogue – Rev Dr Filotheos Maroudas, Volos Academy
Open roundtable – moderated by Inga Leonova, The Wheel
Online conference part 1 (23 April 2025)
Online conference part 2 (24 April 2025)
Our working seminars are resuming in autumn 2024, as we continue a series giving critical consideration to the contributions and legacy of key figures in Christian-Jewish dialogue over the last century.
With our guest Dr Gregory Glazov, Professor and Chair of Biblical Studies at Seton Hall University, we explored the writings of Monsignor John Maria Oesterreicher, Catholic theologian and a leading advocate of Jewish–Catholic reconciliation. He was one of the architects of Nostra Aetate, the declaration issued by the Second Vatican Council in 1965 which repudiated antisemitism.
Please get in touch for access to the recording.
Led by OCDJ steering group members Inga Leonova and Svetlana Panich, we explored the theology and engagement with Judaism of the "Paris school" focusing on Fr Sergius Bulgakov and Mother Maria Skobtsova. The latter has been glorified as St Maria of Paris for her martyrdom in a Nazi death camp.
Please get in touch for access to the recording.
We are preparing a video interview exploring the life and legacy of Fr Alexander Men, Soviet Russian Orthodox priest, dissident, theologian, and biblical scholar, profoundly shaped by the Judaism of his family. He was murdered in 1990. Our discussion is with one of Fr Alexander's disciples.
In June 2024 we presented our work to date at the Orthodox Theological Society in America’s annual meeting at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.
Later that month, a workshop at the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ) 2024 conference in Salzburg, Austria, discussed the work of the OCDJ so far.
In the next phase of our consultations, we gave critical consideration to the contributions and legacy of key figures in Christian-Jewish dialogue over the last century.
With our guest Dr Norman Tobias, we reviewed the work and legacy of the Jewish historian Jules Isaac (1877-1963) who played a decisive role in Jewish-Christian relations after the Second World War and continues to exert influence today
To see the video of this seminar, please contact info@ocdj.net
Led by Fr John Jillions, we reviewed the work and legacy of Father Lev Gillet (1893-1980), the French Orthodox Christian priest whose prophetic book Communion in the Messiah, written in 1941, presents ongoing theological and ecclesiological challenges
To see the video of this seminar, please contact info@ocdj.net
Led by Rivka Karplus, we reviewed the work and legacy of Cardinal Aron Jean-Marie Lustiger (1926-2007), the “Jewish Cardinal,” whose determination to hold to his Jewish identity as a follower of Jesus has profoundly influenced theological reflection on the Jewish heart of the Christian Church
To see the video of this seminar, please contact info@ocdj.net
On Saturday 3 February 2024, we held a public presentation and discussion of the motivations, paths forward, and aspirations of our project, led by several members of our steering committee, including:
In the autumn of 2023, we held a series of seminars to review aspects of the work in Christian-Jewish dialogue and theological reflection of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, considering how the process and shape of this work may inform our own Orthodox Christian consideration of similar issues and themes.
We reviewed God's Unfailing Word, written by the Faith and Order Commission of the Church of England
To see the video of this seminar, please contact info@ocdj.net
We reviewed Preaching and Teaching
“With Love and Respect
for the Jewish People”, written by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
To see the video of this seminar, please contact info@ocdj.net
We reviewed documents from Catholic-Jewish encounter and dialogue, including the watershed Nostra Aetate, a section from Lumen Gentium, and the 2015 document, “A Reflection on Theological Questions Pertaining to Catholic-Jewish Relations on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate.”
To see the video of this seminar, please contact info@ocdj.net