Interorthodox Centre of the Church of Greece

On Wednesday the 23rd of March 2022 we had the pleasure to meet and
welcome the first official delegation of the Combat Antisemitism Movement at our premises at the Interorthodox Centre of the Church of Greece. CAM Senior Advisor and Center for Jewish Impact Chairman Robert Singer and CAM Partnerships and Diplomatic Outreach Coordinator Catherine Szkop CAM met with His Eminence Metropolitan Ioannis of Thermopyle, Director of the Interorthodox Centre, alongside with the
scientific team consisted of Christos Nasios and Kalliopi Mavragka.

The agenda was focused on the importance of education in the fight against antisemitism, as well as the need for person-to-person encounters to familiarize young Greeks with members of the Jewish
community. The CAM delegation expressed their deep gratitude to the Interorthodox Centre of the Church of Greece for its commitment to building bridges between the Hellenic and Jewish peoples, and their
anticipation for a meaningful relationship between the two organizations moving forward, something that will benefit the collective effort against Jew-hatred.

We look forward to future collaboration and joint projects!

In December 2021 a unique educational program took place. Yahad in Unum’s final teacher training seminar of the year occurred in collaboration with the Mémorial du Camp de Rivesaltes in southern France. 10 European educators who have already participated in Yahad in Unum teacher training programs were reunited for a unique seminar with Yahad researchers, focused on workshops on the practical uses of Yahad educational tools and discussions on different innovative teaching methods. On behalf of the Interorthodox Centre of the Church of Greece Sergios Voilas participated and shared with the other researchers the effort that the Interorthodox Centre makes, among other, all the past years in order to raise awareness on matters concerning Antisemitism and hate speech phenomena.

As part of the KAICIID International Fellows Program European Cohort 2021, Kalliopi Mavragka – Interothodox Centre of the Church of Greece, organized and implemented an innovative training program by the title of: “Interreligious mosaic in Chalkis: Greek schools in dialogue with social cohesion” for primary and high school teachers, 17-24 October 2021 targeting in familiarizing themselves with different religious and cultural traditions and the promotion of mutual understanding, solidarity and peaceful coexistence through educational activities.
A team of 24 experienced teachers were trained in Pendeli and Chalkida for two weeks and acquired and/or improved knowledge and skills so as to address diversity issues, both religious and cultural, as well as to adopt principles and tools that promote dialogue with the “other”.
More specifically, the educational visit to Chalkida allowed the participants to delve into the timeless coexistence of religions and cultures and to get to know personally the Jewish community of the city and the solidarity ties they maintain with the local Orthodox Church. The trainees were strengthened to use the examples of solidarity in the classroom as educational tools in order to cultivate in students the values of dialogue, acceptance and coexistence in society.
The implementation of this action was supported by Sergios Voilas and Christos Nasios – Interorthodox Centre of the Church of Greece.

The Holocaust, Genocides and some educational approaches were discussed
in a two days webinar that the Interorthodox Centre of the Church of
Greece ran alongside after an invitation by the French organization
Yahad in Unum on the 14th and 21st of November 2020.
Teachers and educators from all over Greece and specialists from abroad
attended this on line seminar. The subject referred to investigations of
Holocaust crimes that took place in ex Soviet countries, also to
contemporary genocides (Guatemala, Yazidi, Armenia) and participators
discussed about educational scenarios.
We had Mrs. Renata Skunczyk and Mr. Michal Chozak as speakers from
Yahad in Unum.
Mr. Christos Nasios on behalf of the team of Interorthodox Centre
presented the help that Greek clergy (priests and bishops) offered to
the rescue of Greek Jews during the years of the Nazi Occupation in the
Greek territory.
Mrs. Verjin Karabetian who is the secretary of “Hamazkayin”, the Armenian cultural society in Greece, spoke about the Armenian Genocide
in the wake of today.
Mr. Albert Hytry from Yahad in Unum and Mr. Sergios Voilas from the
Interorthodox Centre of the Church of Greece had the responsibility of
the organization.

The European Manifesto for Inclusive Learning final online meeting: learning from each other to rethink education and training.
The scientific team of the Interorthodox Centre, Mr. Sergios Voilas, Mr. Christos Nasios and Mrs. Kalliopi Mavragka, alongside with the ERASMUS+
Partners from Italy, Finland, Poland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom and Germany, all gathered together virtually at the final online meeting of the ERASMUS PLUS KA2 project “The European Manifesto for inclusive learning”. There was an exchange of good practices and new data emerged now with the appearance of covid -19 and the worldwide pandemic.