Tributes to Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia

Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia

Many tributes are arriving to Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia, who died on Wednesday, 24 August at the age of 87.

Kallistos Ware, born Timothy Richard Ware, on 11 September 1934, was an English bishop and theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since 1982, he held the titular bishopric of Diokleia in Phrygia, later made a titular 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.

In a statement the Holy Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain said he was "a noted scholar, lecturer and author, and devout and faithful clergyman, a beloved spiritual father, His Excellency served Christ and His Church for many years. His words, spoken and written, made Orthodoxy known to the entire world, especially to his native land."

Mourning the loss of Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia the World Council of Churches describe him as "an outstanding hierarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, one of the leading theologians today in the Orthodox world, a proliferous author, a teacher deeply respected by his many disciples around the world, a man of dialogue, a worldwide known ecumenist."

The WCC states: "As a hierarch, he has been a faithful servant of the altar and the pulpit, celebrating very often as a parish priest. As a professor, he was known for his pertinent and penetrating theological reflection. As a spiritual father, for his spiritual depth and his contagious commitment to the values of spiritual writers of all ages. As an ecumenist, for his talent to unfold Orthodox - indeed Christian -- faith not just as a system of beliefs, a sum of practices, and a series of customs, but as a 'Way.'

"Lecturer at the University of Oxford in Eastern Orthodox studies, a position he held for 35 years, chairman of the board of directors of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge, and honorary president of the Orthodox Association of Theological Schools (Oxford, UK), the late Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia opened up Orthodoxy to his students, but also to a very large Christian public, particularly through his remarkable gift for explaining the doctrine and faith of the church in a clear, gracious, lively, and engaging way.

"Committed to bilateral theological dialogue, as well as to dialogue with sciences and cultures, he has shown the importance of constructive relationships between East and West, has actively participated in the dialogues between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church and the dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Anglican communion. "For his outstanding contribution to Anglican-Orthodox theological dialogue," Metropolitan Kallistos was awarded the Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The wider Christian world is indebted to Metropolitan Kallistos also for his contribution to the translation and publication of major Orthodox ascetic and liturgical texts such as the "Philokalia," "The Lenten Triodion," and "Festal Menaion," making them valuable sources of fresh spiritual water accessible to all.

"The World Council of Churches is grateful to Metropolitan Kallistos for his many disciples who served on the governing bodies and the staff of the council, as well as the bilateral theological dialogues and the ecumenical movement at large," said WCC acting general secretary Rev Prof Dr Ioan Sauca. "As we thank God, the God of life and Resurrection, for the life and work of the late Metropolitan Kallistos, we express our sincere condolences to his church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and to his many spiritual sons and daughters around the world."

Amanda C Dickie writes: "I had the privilege of knowing Metropolitan Kallistos from my time as a student in Oxford in 1980's and through our membership of the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary -especially when I was press secretary of the Society. He was on the ESBVM's Council and an enthusiastic supporter .I also organised two conferences for the Society at Aylesford Priory and Kallistos was a brilliant, charismatic and memorable speaker. A true spiritual giant and devout ecumenist, who drew many to the richness of Orthodoxy.

I often went to Canterbury Road, Oxford when Divine Liturgy was celebrated in English. He was always welcoming and generous with his time. He frequently mentioned the "Catholic temptation" for Orthodox. It was often the "Orthodox temptation" for me after hearing him speak! I mentioned this to him once and he roared with laughter, stroking his long white silky beard in a typical gesture

I remember too hearing the wonderful historic debate at the ESBVM's Oxford conference between himself and the great Jesuit theologian, Dr.Edward Yarnold SJ on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There was real theological convergence and it was recognised that there was just a slight difference of terminology between them.

He will be truly missed, not only by the Orthodox Community, but by those many people whose lives he touched by his ecumenical outreach."

Canon Robin Gibbons who writes the ICN Sunday Reflection, says: "The legacy of Metropolitan Kallistos will be remembered! The Orthodox Church has lost a great teacher, bishop and spiritual guide. His gift in bringing Orthodoxy into British life was in no small way due to his personal qualities of friendship, intellectual openness and a deep love of the Orthodox faith.

Like many I was privileged to work and connect with him from time to time .He was I know the first British born Orthodox bishop for many centuries, but I shall ever remember him as the first Orthodox bishop who openly declared that ' we like Greek Catholics'.As a Melkite Greek Catholic I shall treasure that memory.

His intellectual depth and breath was known by many Oxford Undergraduates and Graduates as well as those who knew him in the theological and ecumenical world. His writings continue to inspire, inform and enlighten many.

Though the Orthodox Church has lost a bishop, theologian and great apologist, and his parish and spiritual sons and daughters a shepherd, the wider ecclesial community will miss him for his wisdom and friendship.

Memory eternal.

May Christ Pantocrator welcome him into the Kingdom."