• Chris Durante

    Associate Professor, Theology Department, Saint Peter’s University

    Chris (Χρήστος) Durante is an Associate Professor of Theology at Saint Peter’s University in N. J., USA. Durante’s primary research and teaching interests are in Religion, Ethics, Science & Society broadly construed to include: Political & Moral Theology; Ecumenical & Interfaith Dialogue; Science-Engaged Theology and Ecological & Bio-medical Ethics.

    Durante is also a longstanding Fellow of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics & Human Rights in Rome, Italy, where he is primarily involved with the Bioethics, Multiculturalism & Religion project that consists of a series of workshops, and publications, that provide a forum for interfaith and intercultural dialogue and collaboration on bioethical issues. From 2021-2022, he was also a Fellow of the New Visions in Theological Anthropology (NVITA) project of the School of Divinity at St. Andrews University under the auspices of the Science-Engaged Theology (SET) initiative of the John Templeton Foundation, where his project focused on developing an Orthodox Christian science-engaged ecological theology and corresponding ethics.

    As an someone who is deeply committed to raising ecological awareness, Durante has been involved with the Greening of the Orthodox Parish initiative of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Toward Green Democracy and against Energy Poverty initiative of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies in Greece as well as the Integral Ecology project of the Carmelite NGO. He has also had the honor of serving as an invited speaker at Halki Summit V, which is part of a series of symposia hosted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople that seek to advance cooperation amongst the world’s faiths to address environmental issues.

    Durante received his Ph.D. in Ethics from the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University, M.Sc. from the Institute of Psychiatry and Department of Philosophy at King’s College London, M.A. from the Religious Studies Department at Georgia State University, and his B.A. from the Philosophy Department at Fordham University. He has served as a contributing co-editor for two books, respectively entitled: Religious Perspectives on Social Responsibility in Health: Towards a Dialogical Approach (Springer 2018) and Interreligious Perspectives on Mind, Genes & Self: Emerging Technologies & Human Identity (Routledge 2018). And, his publications have also appeared in a variety of academic journals such as the: Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies; Journal of Medical Ethics; Journal of Global Ethics; and Journal of Church & State; as well as in books such as: Politics, Society and Culture in Orthodox Theology in a Global Age (Brill 2023).
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Theology

Is Multiculturalism a Solution to Phyletism?

Phyletism: The Problem of Bigotry in the Orthodox Church In our contemporary era the Orthodox Christian world is, sadly, once again grappling with violent conflicts involving ethnic, religious and political identities in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as the Orthodox churches in the United States, Canada, and Australia engage in heated jurisdictional disputes...

More posts by the author

Environmental Ethics, Religion and Science

Transgressing Our Planetary Boundaries
The Climate Crisis and Ecological Sin, Part 2

by Chris Durante In 1997, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople coined the term “ecological sin” and since then his idea has come to influence a number of thinkers both within the Orthodox Church as well as others; the most prominent of which has been Pope Francis, who cites Barth... Read more.
Environmental Ethics, Religion and Science, Theology

Ethics in the Book of Nature
The Climate Crisis and Ecological Sin, Part 1

by Chris Durante With another season of creation care upon us, we should take heed of the fact that the most recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) respectively affirm, for the first time, that climate change is in fact the result of human activities and that the cata... Read more.
Environmental Ethics

Our Relation to Land and Sea: An Ethical Reflection on Our Food System

by Chris Durante With the fifth Halki Summit on the environment scheduled to take place in June 2022, I would like to take the opportunity to reflect upon the ways in which we, as Orthodox Christians, can more fully embrace the ecological message that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantin... Read more.
Environmental Ethics

The Green Patriarch and Ecological Sin

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the enthronement of Patriarch Bartholomew I to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1991. As is well known, Patriarch Bartholomew has been dubbed the “Green Patriarch” for his longstanding commitment to environmental issues. He recently marked ... Read more.
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Religion and the Environment

Ecological Economics as Care for Creation

In accord with his longstanding commitment to resolving the world’s ecological crisis, Patriarch Bartholomew has recently signed a joint letter with Pope Francis in commemoration of the Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on September 1st. This day has been observed by the Orthodox Church since... Read more.
Global Orthodoxy, Theology

Toward a Multicultural Symphonia: Orthodox Solidarity in an Age of Diversity

With all of the controversies concerning non-attendance at the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church that took place in Crete this past June, I would like to propose that a re-conceptualization of the Byzantine religio-political ideal of symphonia might be able to speak to the issue of the O... Read more.