Rethymno: The opening of the 2nd Bioethics Conference of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
On Friday, 29 November 2024, at the Conference Centre of the Holy Metropolis of Rethymno and Avlopotamos “THEOMITOR”, in a festive atmosphere, with the presence of the Representative of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, His Eminence Archbishop Evgenios of Crete, and the local shepherd His Eminence Metropolitan Prodromos of Rethymno and Avlopotamos, and Their Eminences, Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogaia and Lavreotika and Metropolitan Kyrillos of Hierapytna and Siteia, the local Archons, the Rector of the University of Crete, academics and a large audience, the work of the 2nd Bioethics Conference of the Ecumenical Patriarchate began, with the topic “Artificial Intelligence and the Orthodox Church”.
The Blessing Service was performed by His Eminence Archbishop Evgenios of Crete, and the ceremonial opening session was presided over in an exemplary manner by the Dean of the School of Theology of the University of Athens, Professor Mr. Emmanuel Karageorgoudis.
Initially, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia and Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Conference, read the Sacred Message of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Subsequently, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, in his capacity as Chairman of the Synodal Committee on Bioethics, delivered a greeting, who also described in detail the theme of the Conference and raised the concerns from the perspective of Orthodox Theology. This was followed by greetings from His Eminence Archbishop Evgenios of Crete, the local Shepherd, His Eminence Metropolitan Prodromos of Rethymno and Avlopotamos, Ms. Maria Lioni, Deputy Governor of Crete, on behalf of the Governor of Crete, Archon Exarchos of the Great Church of Christ, Mr. Stavros Arnaoutakis, Mr. Nektarios Papadogiannis, Deputy Mayor of Education, on behalf of the Mayor of Rethymno, Mr. Georgios Marinakis, and Professor of the Medical School, Mr. Georgios Kontakis, Rector of the University of Crete.
The first day of the Conference ended with the introductory speech of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, which took place through an impressive video presentation, where through a panorama of speech, image and sound the audience came into contact with the vast and, to a large extent, uncharted field of Artificial Intelligence. The carefully selected examples given by the speaker set out the general outline of the concern for the misuse of Artificial Intelligence applications, but also outlined the guidelines along which the Orthodox Church must move to face the challenges, certainly not with sterile denial but with fruitful logical arguments.
