The UK Book Launch of Nicolae Steinhardt’s JOURNAL OF JOY

The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge in partnership with The Embassy of Romania to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and The Romanian Cultural Institute, London invite you to the UK BOOK LAUNCH of Nicolae Steinhardt's JOURNAL OF JOY. This is the first official translation of the Romanian classic published by St Vadimir's Seminary Press (Yonkers, NY).

The event will take place on Friday, 23 May 2025 6:00 pm at 1 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PH and will feature a round table discussion followed by a reception.

Featuring Rt Revd Dr Rowan Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury) and, representing the publisher, Revd Prof Bogdan Bucur, Associate Professor of Patristics, St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary.

The event will feature a round table discussion followed by a reception.

The programme of the event will be:

• HE Ambassador Laura Popescu: Welcome from the Embassy (5 min)
• Fr Dragos Herescu (moderator): Brief welcome from IOCS, introduction of the speakers (5 min)
• Dr Razvan Porumb: A brief introduction of Nicolae Steinhardt and the Journal of Joy (5 min)
• The Right Revd Dr Rowan Williams (20 min)
• Revd Prof Bogdan Bucur (20 min)
• Questions and comments from the speakers (20 minutes)
• Questions and comments from the audience (15 minutes)

The Round table discussions will be followed by a Reception (30 min)

Speakers:

The Right Revd Dr Rowan Williams

The Right Revd Dr Rowan Williams is a celebrated Welsh theologian, who was Archbishop of Canterbury between 2002–12. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in theology at Christ’s College, Cambridge, and was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in theology by Wadham College, Oxford, in 1975. After teaching at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, he held a series of academic and ecclesiastical appointments, culminating in his Professorship of Divinity at Oxford (1986–92). Before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury, he was elected bishop of Monmouth in 1992 and archbishop of Wales in 2000. A fellow of the British Academy since 1990, he published numerous books, which include: ‘On Christian Theology’ (2000), ‘Arius: Heresy and Tradition’ (2002), ‘On Augustine’ (2016), ‘Looking East in Winter: Contemporary Thought and the Eastern Christian Tradition (2021), ‘Passions of the Soul’ (2024), ‘Discovering Christianity: A guide for the curious’ (2025) and many others.

Revd Prof Bogdan Bucur

Revd Prof Bogdan Bucur represents St Vladimir's Seminary Press, the publisher of the ‘Journal of Joy’. Father Bogdan coordinated the teamwork that produced the English translation of this book. A native of Romania who came to the US in 2000 for graduate studies in Theology, Father Bogdan is currently Associate Professor of Patristics at the St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary near New York, where he also serves as an Orthodox priest.

Dr Razvan Porumb

Dr Razvan Porumb is the Vice-Principal and Director of Research of the Institute for Orthodox Studies, in Cambridge, UK. Author of the Foreword of this English edition of the ‘Journal of Joy’, he is also the author of ‘Orthodoxy and Ecumenism. Towards an Active Metanoia’ (Peter Lang, 2019) and of many other journal articles and essays many of which have been devoted to the work of Nicolae Steinhardt.

Father Dragos Herescu

Fr Dragos Herescu is the Principal of The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (IOCS) in Cambridge and the parish priest for the Romanian Orthodox Parish of St John the Evangelist, also in Cambridge.