Proposals and solutions for the future of Vella are being sought by the graduates of the historical seminary which, after the sudden closure of the Higher Ecclesiastical School of Vella, in the form in which it operated in recent years, by the previous ND government, is in danger of being completely discredited and abandoned.
The Alumni Association of Vella Ioannina Seminary and the Panhellenic Association of Alumni of Vella Seminary organized on Wednesday morning an important conference related to the future of Vella, and invited those interested in this important intellectual asset of the wider region to contribute with proposals.
The hosts of the event were Theophanis Vottis, the president of the Panhellenic Association of Alumni of the Vella Seminary, and Dimitris Floros, from the Association of Alumni of the Vella Seminary of Ioannina. The latter emphasized in his short greeting that “we do not have administrative responsibilities nor decision-making powers, but the goal is to recover the former glory and prestige of the school and the utilization of the building facilities”, summarizing the goal of the conference.
The Mayor of Ioannina, Dimitris Papageorgiou, addressed a greeting, who, as he said, expects decisions that will be consistent with the enviable past of Vella, and the Municipality of Ioannina in perpetuity considers the School to be a valuable asset and an intellectual asset that we all must preserve.
Finally, the Mayor of Pogoni Kostas Kapsalis argued that the discredit of Vella after the closure of the Higher Ecclesiastical School two years ago, occurred as a result of the Maximization. “I do not assign responsibility, then we should have given weight to what was going to happen because it could not function as a Higher School, but that is what we appreciated at that time,” said the Mayor and emphasized that 3, 5 or 10 graduates from the Higher School each year, at the most, he could not keep it alive, so it was gradually discredited to be led to closure. And now, however, he concluded, Mr. Kapsalis, it is not too late, all of us united with the Metropolitan leading us, we can achieve the goal of reviving the old glory.
The Metropolitan of Ioannina is apologetic and offers suggestions
The Metropolitan of Ioannina His Excellency Maximus in a partially apologetic style, critical of the role of the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece etc. Hieronymou but also with proposals for the future of Vella, he was detailed in his position regarding the recent past of Vella.
“I share your anguish and as a spiritually responsible father of the Church in this region, I am particularly pained by what has happened in the last two years,” said Mr. Maximos at the beginning of his speech, referring to the closure of the Academy. He soon spoke about the restoration and maintenance works carried out in recent years after the 2016 earthquake and announced that in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina, the effort to date members of the Catholic Church of the Holy Monastery of Vella is being discussed in order to better know the spiritual history of the place. In the last 6 years, there has also been an attempt to make an effort with the agricultural and livestock school, a report that caused a reaction from the public, which the Metropolitan did not leave unaddressed.
Mr. Maximos referred to the criticism leveled against him for the closure of the Academy and responding to the various publications of the last two years regarding whether he was as interested as he should have been in order not to close the School, he argued that he did not receive the necessary information from the Archbishop Hieronymus and from the synodal committee that deals with ecclesiastical/educational issues. “It hurts me (s.s. the development) for the relationship I had with the Archbishop, the days and months I spent were dramatic but that is in the past, the issue is what we do now” he noted in an aversion to his speech.
What can be done
There are two goals presented by the Metropolitan of Ioannina for the future of Vella.
The first is the operation, according to the current law, of a SMYK-School of Apprenticeship for Clerical Candidates. This should have happened since last October, which did not happen because not a single line of the curricula and regulations for the operation of the specific Schools had been written. He is now working for this purpose himself, as a member of the Synodal Committee and already has the consent of the highest hierarchy of the Church, an important fact if we consider that after the closure of the Academy, the Holy Synod was against even the SMYK function in Vella… The memorandum drawn up proposes the right for SMYK graduates to be able to enter Theological Schools and Higher Ecclesiastical Schools.
According to Mr. Maximos, the operation of the SMYK is the only way to feed the Ecclesiastical Academies and Theological Schools which are in great crisis.
The second level of exploitation of Vella proposed by Mr. Maximos is the creation of a certified Legal Entity that will deal with education and will be able to enter into agreements with Universities and other educational centers to carry out academic level activities. The current administration of the University of Ioannina has expressed its willingness to cooperate with the Metropolis in order to draw up the regulation establishing the specific Center for Lifelong Learning.
