Kallistos Ware

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Diokleia in Phrygia (titular)
Orders
Ordination1966 (as priest and monk)
Consecration1982 (as bishop); 2007 (as metropolitan)
Personal details
Born
Timothy Richard Ware

(1934-09-11)11 September 1934
Died24 August 2022(2022-08-24) (aged 87)
Oxford, England
DenominationEastern Orthodox
Education

Kallistos Ware (born Timothy Richard Ware, 11 September 1934 – 24 August 2022) was an English bishop and theologian of the

metropolitan bishopric in 2007, under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. He was one of the best-known modern Eastern Orthodox hierarchs and theologians. From 1966 to 2001, he was Spalding Lecturer of Eastern Orthodox Studies at the University of Oxford.[1]

Early life and ordination

Born Timothy Richard Ware on 11 September 1934 to an Anglican family in Bath, Somerset, England,[2] he was educated at Westminster School in London (to which he had won a King's Scholarship) and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he took a double first in classics as well as reading theology.[3]

On 14 April 1958, at the age of 24, he embraced the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith. He described his first contacts with Orthodoxy and the growing attraction of the Orthodox Church in an autobiographical text entitled "My Journey to the Orthodox Church". While still a layman, he spent six months in Canada at a monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.[3] Thoroughly conversant in modern Greek, Ware became an Eastern Orthodox monk at the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Patmos, Greece. He also frequented other major centres of Orthodoxy, such as Jerusalem and Mount Athos.[4]

In 1966, he was

Ecumenical Patriarchate and was tonsured as a monk, receiving the name "Kallistos".[4]

Professional and ecclesiastical life

In 1966, Ware became Spalding Lecturer at the University of Oxford in Eastern Orthodox studies, a position he held for 35 years until his retirement.

Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Following his consecration, Ware continued to teach at the University of Oxford and served in the Greek Orthodox parish in Oxford. From his retirement in 2001, Ware had continued to publish and to give lectures on Orthodox Christianity. He served as chairman of the board of directors of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge, and was chairman of the Friends of Orthodoxy on Iona (Scotland) and of the Friends of Mount Athos
. On 30 March 2007, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elevated the Diocese of Diokleia in Phrygia to a titular metropolitan diocese and Ware to the rank of metropolitan.[6]

In 2017, Ware was awarded the

Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism by the Archbishop of Canterbury "for his outstanding contribution to Anglican–Orthodox theological dialogue".[7]

Death

In August 2022, his caregivers reported he was in critical condition and "approaching the end of his life".[8] He died at home in Oxford in the early hours of 24 August 2022 at age 87.[2][9]

Publications

Ware was a prolific author and lecturer. He authored or edited over a dozen books, numerous articles in a wide range of periodicals, and essays in books on many subjects, as well as providing prefaces, forewords, or introductions to many other books. He is perhaps best known as the author of The Orthodox Church, published when he was a layman in 1963 and subsequently revised several times.

St Vladimir's Seminary Press published a Festschrift in his honour in 2003: Abba, The Tradition of Orthodoxy in the West, Festschrift for Bishop Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia, eds. John Behr, Andrew Louth, Dimitri Conomos (New York: SVS Press, 2003).[5]

Academic honors

For his outstanding contributions to Orthodox theology, Metropolitan Kallistos was awarded honorary doctorates from Lawrence University of Wisconsin (2001), St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (2011),[11] Cluj-Napoca University, the Ss Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute (2014),[12] the University of Belgrade, the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute, and New Georgian University (2018).[13]

Books

Selected articles

Selected lectures

References

  1. ^ Neff, Interview by David (6 July 2011). "Q & A: Bishop Kallistos Ware". ChristianityToday.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Kallistos Ware, world-renowned scholar-bishop who did much to raise the profile of the Orthodox Church in Britain – obituary". The Telegraph. 24 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b "ROCOR's Emphasis on Ascetic and Liturgical Tradition is Very Much Needed Today". 28 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Kallistos of Diokleia - Titular Metropolitans – Archbishops of the Throne - The Ecumenical Patriarchate". www.patriarchate.org. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Abba: The tradition of Orthodoxy in the West, a festschrift for Bishop Kallistos Ware". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain". Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  7. ^ "The Archbishop of Canterbury's Awards: Citations in Alphabetical Order" (PDF). Archbishop of Canterbury. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  8. ^ "UPDATED: Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) in critical condition". Orthochristian. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Metropolitan Kallistos Fell Asleep in the Lord". Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & Great Britain. 24 August 2022. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  10. ^ "In Greece and Russia, the veneration of saintly remains is a huge phenomenon". The Economist. 2 June 2017. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  11. ^ Metropolitan Kallistos Receives Honorary Doctorate from St Vladimir's Seminary, September 8, 2011
  12. ^ A ceremony of awarding the Doctor Honoris Causa diploma to Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia was held at the Main Hall of Ss Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute, December 13, 2014
  13. ^ The Most Reverend Kallistos, Metropolitan of Diokleia was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor, October 9, 2018
  14. ^ "Metropolitan Kallistos Ware - The Present and Future of Orthodox Theology - 2011 Fellowship of Sts. Alban and Sergius Conference | Ancient Faith Ministries". www.ancientfaith.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.

External links