The School of Theology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is one of the is one of the founding Schools of Greece’s premiere institution of higher education. The origins of our historic School and University take us back to the 19^th century, to the aftermath of the Hellenic War of Independence and the beginnings of the modern Greek State. The previous year in fact, our School of Theology celebrated the 185^th anniversary of its founding alongside the entire University of Athens (1837-2022).

Beyond history, the impact of the Athens School of Theology remains profound in present-day ecclesia and academia. World-renowned academic reputation, culture of excellence, modernised facilities and optimal infrastructure, overall high student ratings and cultural openness with emphasis on socio-religious otherness are only few of the key facts that have been driving our trajectory as an unrivalled leader in theology and religious studies in the Eastern Mediterranean and worldwide. The key role of our School of Theology Europe-wide and globally is also attested by its interconnections with a whole chain of academic counterparts through EU programmes such as ERASMUS+ and CIVIS “A Civic European University” Alliance, Swiss-European academic mobility opportunities and so many more initiatives backed by memorandums of academic cooperation carefully crafted by the School of Theology and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Among the units of our School, the Department of Theology and the Department of Social Theology and the Study of Religion stand out as its two distinct educational pathways. Their academic faculties have built up an awesome interdisciplinary network of academic cooperation elaborating on centuries-old established as well as emerging trends in theological studies, including Biblical studies, Church history, organisation and art, Patristics and ecclesiastical diplomacy, Mission studies, religious education and religious tourism. At the same time, considerable efforts are being made towards fruitful and multifaceted understandings of established religious paradigms and new religious movements, spiritual experiences and non-religion ideologies through the lens of cutting-edge research methods in the field of religious studies, such as history of religions, sociology of religions, anthropology of religions, psychology of religions and comparative religious literature.

Openness and integrity is the spirit that encompasses and pervades all our educational and research programmes either at undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, or post-doctoral level. Our principles are highly praised and endorsed by political and ecclesiastical authorities internationally as a stepping stone for further promoting interdenominational and interreligious dialogue featuring (indicatively) Global Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese and Japanese religion and other prominent religious traditions of the Far East. In this respect, our Centre of Excellence themed (CoE) “Exploitation of the Orthodox Heritage and Interreligious Dialogue”, one of the fifteen (15) CoEs based in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, proves to be an indispensable asset for all communities and individuals committed to peaceful coexistence and conflict resolution.

Keeping faith with the above directions, the Athens School of Theology is also a true success story when it comes to development and operation of Research Laboratories. For it is their rigorous activities and scientific contributions that make our School and University an ideal hub connecting theology and religion with other sciences and visions of humanity like pedagogics, digital transformation, ethics and bioethics, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and even the Space Age. Four of these Research Laboratories operate at the Department of Theology specialising in Pedagogy and Religious Education, Church and Culture, Iconography, and Oriental Christianity. The Department of Social Theology and the Study of Religion, hosts five more Research Laboratories deep diving into Canon Law, Digital Humanities, Ethics, Pastoral Care and Cousnelling, Pedagogical Research and Applications, Educational Technology and Production of Educational Material of Religious Education, and the study of Religion.

Our alumni are arguably the most precious gift of our School and University to the world. At the outset, two of our high-profile alumni have already been beatified by the Christian Orthodox Church: Saint Nectarios Metropolitan of Pentapolis of Egypt (1846-1920) and Saint Justin of Ćelije (1894-1979). Furthermore, a plethora of our alumni has served in, and currently holds, top-level positions in Church, State and Education as Metropolitans, Archbishops, Bishops, Auxiliary and Titulary Bishops and ordained clergy of various responsibilities, community leaders and activists, academic professors and mentors, school directors and teachers in primary and secondary education, artists and poets, literary authors and media influencers. On the shoulders of its giants, the present and future of the School of Theology of the National and Kapodistrian of Athens rests promising, ever welcoming and bright.