Conference Program

The confirmed conference program will be published on this page on June 15, after the conference team has confirmed the presentations to be presented in the working groups and the sessions.

Confirmed keynotes are prof. Catherine Wanner, dr. Benjam Puustinen, dr. Harutyun Harutyunyan, dr. Tornike Metreveli, prof. Cyril Hovorun, and dr. Iryna Fenno.

Keynote and paper abstracts can be found here.

All keynotes, panel discussions and paper presentations take place at the auditiorion AT 100 (Agora building, School of Theology annex).

Thursday September 25, 2025

  • Registration, at the lobby of School of Theology
  • 13.00 Opening of the conference: Heta Hurskainen
  • 13.30 Keynote 1: Catherine Wanner, An Ethics of Care among the “Just Orthodox” (chair: Heta Hurskainen)
  • 14:30-15:30: Panel discussion: Military chaplains in war and peace. Panelists: Santeri Kytöneva, fr. Sergiy Berezhnoy and fr. Mikko Sidoroff (chair: Jarkko Kosonen)
  • 15.30 Coffee break
  • 16:00-17:30 Paper session 1: Philosophical and theological approaches to justifying war. Papers by: Serafim Seppälä, Olga Tomyuk and Anni-Maria Peltola (chair: Pekka Metso)
  • 17:30 Keynote 2: Benjam Puustinen, The psychological influence of the Moscow patriarchate on the Baltic states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (chair: Talvikki Ahonen)
  • 19.30 Dinner (at own expence) 

Friday September 26, 2025

  • 9.00 Paper session 2: National, state and political pressures on churches. Papers by: Grazina Bielousova  & Milda Ališauskienė, Serhii Yepik and Janko Stefanov (chair: Talvikki Ahonen)
  • 10.30 Keynote 3: Tornike Metreveli, From Euphemism to Eschatology: The Russian Orthodox Church in the Wars in Georgia and Ukraine (chair: Talvikki Ahonen)
  • 11:45 Lunch break 
  • 13:00-14:30 Paper session 3: The armed forces, the media and civil-military relations. Papers by: Jan Pohjonen, Tiia Liuski and Jarkko Kosonen (chair: Heta Hurskainen)  
  • 14.30 Coffee break
  • 15:00 Keynote 4: Cyril Hovorun, Orthodox Political Theologies in the 20th Century (chair: Pekka Metso)
  • 16:15-17:00 Session 4: Churches as instruments of hybrid influence. Paper by: Bjarge Fors (chair: Pekka Metso)  
  • 19.00 Conference Dinner (Restaurant Sulo, Kauppakatu 28, Joensuu)

Saturday September 27, 2025

  • 9.00  Keynote 5: Iryna Fenno Orthodox churches in Ukraine during the war: changes in the life of communities (chair: Jarkko Kosonen)
  • 10:00-10:30 Coffee break
  • 10:30-10:55 Launch of the book project 
  • 11.00 Keynote 6: Harutyun Harutyunyan, Armenian Apostolic Church during and after the last Nagorno-Karabakh war (chair: Heta Hurskainen)
  • 12.15 Closing the conference: Pekka Metso
  • 12:30 Lunch

17.00 Orthodox Vigil Service at St. Nicholas Church (Kirkkokatu 32) in downtown Joensuu

Sunday September 28, 2025

Sunday September 28, the fourth day of the conference, is devoted to full-day excursion to Ilomantsi. Price of the excursion is 50 €. Excursion registration was open until 8 September, when it closed alongside conference registration.

The excursion program is as follows:

  • 9:00: departure form Joensuu (Torikatu 16, GreenStar Hotel)
  • 10:00: attending the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Prophetess Hannah and the Assumption of the Mother of God in Sonkajanranta. Lunch will be served after the liturgy.
  • 13:00: The journey continues to Ilomantsi, the easternmost municipality in Finland and the easternmost corner of the continental EU, located on the Russian border.
  • 14:00-16:00 PM: Exploring historical World War II battlefields. Please note that there will be a short walk of no more than a few hundred metres through former WW2 frontline areas. This walk will involve forest trails, dirt roads and boardwalks, which may be difficult for people with mobility issues. We will have coffee and tea as well as traditional Karelian delicacies by the roadside.
  • 16:00 PM: We begin our return journey to Joensuu.
  • 17:00 PM: Arrival to Joensuu. Evening connections to Helsinki by train and plane are guaranteed.