Iași, May 19, 2025
Photo: Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
Archpriest John Behr, who taught at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in New York for 15 years, was awarded an honorary doctorate from Romania’s first higher education institution last week.
Fr. John, who was the guest at this year’s St. Dumitru Stăniloae Symposium, organized by the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Iași, received the Doctor Honoris Causa from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iași on May 14, reports Doxologia.ro.
His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina participated alongside the university leadership and delivered a congratulatory message and blessing. As a sign of appreciation for his academic activity, Fr. John also received the title of Honorary Citizen of Iași, presented by the city’s mayor.
After receiving the awards, Fr. John delivered a lecture entitled, “The Play of the Word.” He stated:
You do me a great honor today, and I am grateful for it to the Faculty of Theology, the university council, and the university in general: I am deeply moved by this distinction and consider it a blessing both to be with you these days and to now count myself among the esteemed professors who have received the doctoral title from your institution.
This is, of course, a solemn occasion, but full of joy, and I would like to take advantage of it to reflect on the joy that should accompany our study of theology, a joy that is found, as Sts. Gregory the Theologian and Maximus the Confessor suggest, in the playful spirit that characterizes the relationship between God and the human being and our involvement in the discipline of theology.
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Fr. John is Regius Professor of Humanities (Theology) at the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom, a title awarded in 2020 in recognition of his academic excellence. He began his university career in 1995, teaching at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York, until 2017. His research in Orthodox theology began with themes centered on asceticism and Christian anthropology, focusing on St. Irenaeus of Lyon and Clement of Alexandria.
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