HISTORY
of
ST JOHN OF DAMASCUS
INSTITUTE OF THEOLOGY
Nested on the beautiful hill of Balamand and below the historic
Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand lies the school of theology founded by the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch. The St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology is
a beacon of prayer and learning. The Institute is the culminating point of many years of
religious education at the Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand. In 1832, Archimandrite
Athanasius Kaseer of Damascus established the first clerical school at the Monastery of
Balamand, in response to the needs of the Antiochian Church. During seven years, Arabic,
Church Music, Greek, Dogmatics and Practical Ethics were taught. Unfortunately the school
did not last for long and it was closed in 1840. The school reopened after the election of
Patriarch Meletius II Dumani in 1899. The new Patriarch commissioned the Bishop of Tripoli
Gregorios (Haddad), who later was elected Patriarch, to supervise it. Many teachers,
renown for their culture and piety, taught in the school Arabic, Greek, Russian, Turkish,
Mathematics, Geography, History, Science, Exegesis, Homiletics, Church Music and Rhetoric.
The school closed at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, but resumed
its activities at a low scale between the two Wars until it was renovated after the
election of Patriarch Alexandros III (Tahan). In 1962, Patriarch Theodosius VI (Abu
Rjaily) entrusted Bishop Ignatius (Hazim) of Lattakia, the present Patriarch of Antioch,
to administer the school. The standard of education was improved and the students, whose
number had doubled, were eligible for the Lebanese Baccalaureate Part II.
In order to promote the training of clergy and religious educators, the
Church saw as a pressing need the establishment of a theological institute of high
academic and spiritual standard. Metropolitan Anthony (Bashir) of blessed memory, the
primate of the Antiochian Archdiocese in North America, assumed the responsibility of
enabling his Mother Church to establish an institute of theological education, a thousand
years after the closure of the first school of Antioch. In 1965, during the general
convention of the Archdiocese of North America, it was decided to establish an institute
of theology on the hill of Balamand, which occupied a special place in the heart of every
Antiochian Orthodox Christian. A Board of Trustees was formed and the work started to
bring forth fruits
On August 10, 1966, the Antiochian Holy Synod decided to lay the
cornerstone of the Institute. This great event was celebrated on August 15, 1966 by
Patriarch Theodosius VI of blessed memory. The successor of Metropolitan Bashir of blessed
memory, Metropolitan Philip pledged to carry out the will of his predecessor and complete
the construction of the Institute.
The Institute began in 1970 under the leadership of Metropolitan
Ignatius (Hazim) of Lattakia. On October 7, 1971, it was officially opened by Patriarch
Elias IV, in the presence of the President of Lebanon, the members of the Holy Synod,
government officials and a large number of the Orthodox faithful.
During the academic year of 1972-1973 the Dean of the Institute was
Archimandrite Penteleimon Rodopoulos (later Metropolitan of Tiroleyi and Syrandion),
Professor of Canon Law at the University of Thessaloniki, Greece. A commencement for the
first graduates of the Institute was held on the feast day of St. John of Damascus the
Patron Saint (December 4) of the Institute in the year 1974. On February 26, 1975, the
President of the Lebanese Republic issued a decree, recognizing and accrediting the Greek
Orthodox Institute of Theology at the Balamand.
The outbreak of the war in Lebanon forced the administration to
transfer the Institute to Thessaloniki. Upon the return of the students from Greece in
1978, a Synodal Commission was appointed to supervise the Institute. It consisted of
Metropolitans Elias of Tripoli, Alexis (Abdulkarim) of Homs and George (Khodre) of Byblos
and Mount Lebanon. Deacon Michel Kyriakos (now Archimandrite Ephrem) was appointed
director. In 1980, Fr. Michel Najm became Dean of the Institute. On March 8, 1984, and
during the meeting of the Holy Synod in the Institute, a new Synodal Commission was
formed. It was composed of Metropolitan Constantine (Papa-Stephano) of Baghdad,
Metropolitan Elias (Aude) of Beirut and Metropolitan Boulos (Bendali) of Akkar. In 1986,
Metropolitan Constantine took upon himself the administration of the Institute. In the
academic year of 1987-1988, Archimandrite Youhanna Yazigi became Dean of the Institute.
In 1990,
Bishop George Abou
Zakhem
was
appointed
Dean,
and
in 1995, Metropolitan Paul Yazigi.
His
Grace
Bishop
Youhanna
Yazigi
(former
Dean
of
the
Institute)
was
appointed
Dean
in
2001. |
Message of His
Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV 
