About the Institute
The St Irenaeus Orthodox Theological Institute was founded in 2020 and is named after St Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130 - c. 202). St Irenaeus is considered to be the one of the first great Christian theologians because of the breadth and depth of his theological vision and because of the fact that he gave expression in the West to the theological tradition he had come to know in the East.
History
The institute is the successor to the Amsterdam Centre for Orthodox Theology, which started in 2010 as the Amsterdam Centre for Eastern Orthodox Theology. In 2015, the Minister of Education, Culture and the Sciences awarded to ACOT funding to educate clergy and chaplains. As of July 1, 2021, the institute is located at Radboud University.
Board
St Irenaeus, as an Orthodox ‘seminarium’, is under the authority of the Orthodoxe Zendende Instantie (OZI; www.orthodox.nl), which acts as a representative body on behalf of the Orthodox in the Netherlands. In OZI, both Orthodox families are represented. OZI is not responsible for content of the publications by the staff of St Irenaeus and guarantees their academic freedom. The institute has its own board which consults annually with the faculty board. The day-to-day management of the institute rests with the Rector. The cademic head is the professor. The academic staff of St Irenaeus participate in the academic life of the faculty as regular employees.