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Document Details : Title: An Eastern Orthodox Perspective on Europe and Catholicism Subtitle: A Study in the Thought of Olivier Clément Author(s): HUGH-DONOVAN, Stefanie Journal: Journal of Eastern Christian Studies Volume: 63 Issue: 1-2 Date: 2011 Pages: 233-254 DOI: 10.2143/JECS.63.1.2149621 Abstract : Olivier Clément, French Orthodox lay theologian and writer, achieved acclaim as a significant Christian thinker of the twentieth and early twenty-first century, and pioneer of Orthodox theological renewal. The theologians of the Russian Diaspora in Paris became the catalyst for a fresh encounter of Eastern Orthodoxy with the West, which enabled Clément as a young historian and atheist to discover Christ. He was baptised into the Russian Orthodox Church in Paris in 1951, yet continued to identify deeply with France and Europe; his theological, political and philosophical views were shaped by his own diverse experience of European culture and history. Brought up in a predominantly Protestant area of France, Clément had little familiarity with Catholic culture and faith; at first this affected his openness to Catholicism. As he matured he sought a new paradigm for ecumenism through eucharistic ecclesiology, an ecclesiology of communion, and a synthesis of culture and Christian values. |
