On Wednesday afternoon, April 29, 2026, Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios delivered a lecture on Bioethics to more than 100 postgraduate students of the “Bioethics Postgraduate Program” at the Medical School of Democritus University of Thrace for the academic year 2025–2026. The invitation was extended by Professor Alexandra Tsaroucha-Tsichritzi, Director and Scientific Coordinator of the program.
The Metropolitan structured his presentation around several key thematic sections, including his long-standing engagement with Bioethics, the concepts of Biology and Genetic Science, the genetic revolution and algonia, bioethical and biotheological principles, eugenics and euthanasia-oriented mentality in modern society, as well as the meaning and value of life.
During the lecture, students actively participated by raising questions, to which detailed answers were provided. The Metropolitan emphasized that contemporary society is witnessing rapid developments in biotechnology and biomedical research, affecting every stage of human biological existence — from the beginning and extension of life to its final stages.
He noted that interventions in the human organism, including DNA recombination and related technologies, have generated profound concerns even among scientists themselves. These concerns gave rise to the science of Bioethics, which was developed to function as a kind of secular “theology” for the emerging culture of advanced technology.
According to Metropolitan Hierotheos, Bioethics became closely connected with the humanism of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, leading to the formation of various bioethical systems based on values such as utility, autonomy, justice, equality, and other human-centered principles.
At the same time, he underlined that Orthodox theology approaches these issues from a different perspective, placing at the center God, the Church, and the human person in relation to overcoming biological existence and death through the experience of what he described as “Biotheology.”
It was also highlighted that Metropolitan Hierotheos has been an Honorary Doctor of the Medical School of the University of Ioannina since 2016 due to his significant contribution to bioethical studies. He has taught Bioethics at the Balamand Theological School in Lebanon and has delivered approximately one hundred lectures in Greece and abroad on bioethical issues.
