Laurent Cleenewerck

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Laurent Cleenewerck de Kiev
Born1969 (age 5556)
Montpellier, France
CitizenshipUnited States, France
Alma mater University of Montpellier
Ukrainian Catholic University
Universidad Rural de Guatemala
(Saint Gregory Nazianzen Orthodox Institute)
Known for Ecclesiology
International Relations
Bioethics
Education
Scientific career
FieldsTheology, Inter-religious dialogue, bioethics
Institutions EUCLID (Euclid University)
Ukrainian Catholic University
Humboldt State University
Doctoral advisor Zoran Vujisić

Laurent Cleenewerck (legally Cleenewerck de Kiev) is an academic and theologian, serving as the Oversight Council Chairman of EUCLID (Euclid University).

Contents

He is also a professor of international administration, public health and theology for EUCLID (Euclid University), and on the faculty of the Ukrainian Catholic University. He previously taught at Humboldt State University and was the rector of the Eureka Orthodox Church from 2007 to 2024.

Upbringing and education

Cleenewerck was born in 1969 in Montpellier, France to a Flemish family, and spent part of his childhood in Connecticut. After completing his high school baccalauréat in 1986, he earned bachelors degrees in Computer Science, International Affairs, Finance and Business Administration. He holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris and a Master's in Ecumenical Studies from the Ukrainian Catholic University. [1] He also pursued further studies at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania from 2002 to 2004, and he obtained a Doctorate of Science in the Study of Religion from the Universidad Rural de Guatemala St. Gregory Nazianzen Institute for Eastern Christian Studies. [2] He also received a Ph.D. in public health from the Central University of Nicaragua in 2022.

Professional life

Cleenewerck currently teaches theology, international administration and global health for EUCLID (Euclid University), as well as Ecumenical Methods for the Ukrainian Catholic University. He also occasionally serves as extension faculty for the Humboldt State University. [3] He is the rector of St. Innocent's Orthodox parish in Eureka and engaged in public lecturing, [4] ministry, as well as writing and research.

Prior to 2004, he worked as a manager in Paris and California.

He is a member of the Orthodox Theological Society of America.

Ecclesiastical life

He is a presbyter of the Eastern Orthodox Church, ordained in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, received in the Orthodox Church in America in 2007. [5] He was the rector of St Innocent Orthodox Church in Eureka, CA and held the rank of archpriest in the Orthodox Church in America. [6] In 2024 he changed his jurisdiction and was accepted into the Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe. [7]

Theological work

Cleenewerck's main ideas are presented in his study of the historical and theological causes of the current separation between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. [8] He is an advocate of Eucharistic ecclesiology, which he articulates as Holographic anesthesiology. He is a proponent of non-partisan ecumenical dialogue with the ideal of a return to the basics of pre-Nicene orthodoxy.

Cleenewerck is an editor of the EOB (Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible) of which the New Testament volume was published in 2010.

He is also engaged in public debates. [9]

Interfaith Award

Cleenewerck authored an academic paper on Christian - Muslim dialogue as part of the 2016 UN World Interfaith Harmony Week organized by EUCLID, which won the first prize award as an organization. In April 2016, he received an award from King Abdullah II of Jordan and delivered a speech at the award ceremony of the World Interfaith Harmony Week held in Amman, Jordan. [10]

World Interfaith Harmony Week Award photo, Amman, Jordan, on April 17, 2016; Cleenewerck is second from left, King Abdullah II is fourth from left, Patriarch Theophilos III is fourth from right World Interfaith Harmony Week Award photo, Amman, Jordan, on April 17 2016.jpg
World Interfaith Harmony Week Award photo, Amman, Jordan, on April 17, 2016; Cleenewerck is second from left, King Abdullah II is fourth from left, Patriarch Theophilos III is fourth from right

Musical contributions

Under the name Laurent de Kiev, he has released a number of classic French poems adapted to music under the title "De Verlaine a Rimbaud" (2023) and "de Musset à Sardou" (2021). [11]

Bibliography

Books

Academic Articles

References

  1. "The first online Master's thesis defense at the DLMPES / Our News / Home - Ecumenical Studies Distance Learning". www.iesdistance.org.ua. Retrieved Feb 22, 2019.
  2. "Orthodoxtheologicalinstitute.org". www.orthodoxtheologicalinstitute.org. Retrieved Feb 22, 2019.
  3. "OLLI". College of Extended Education & Global Engagement at Humboldt State University. Mar 19, 2018. Retrieved Feb 22, 2019.
  4. JPR Listeners Guild - Community Calendar Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine
  5. The Orthodox Church (PDF), vol. 4, The Orthodoc Church in America, Summer 2007, archived (PDF) from the original on May 23, 2023, retrieved July 15, 2024
  6. "Clergy - Pacific Central Deanery". oca.org. Retrieved Feb 22, 2019.
  7. PASTORAL CHANGES Official No. 684 July 2024
  8. His Broken Body – Understanding and Healing the Schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches
  9. "Episode 119: Sing We the Virgin Mary". 31 January 2015. Retrieved Feb 22, 2019.
  10. "Winners of World Interfaith Harmony Week award honoured". Jordan Times. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
  11. "Biographie". Laurent de Kiev Official Site. 12 July 2024.