“We see that it is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question but to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.” – Kallistos Ware
In the early hours of the morning of August 24 we learned of the falling asleep of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, one of the last of the generation of the great theologians of the Orthodox West, and the only British-born Orthodox bishop. Metropolitan Kallistos was many things to many people, and among those, he was a great friend to The Wheel. We grieve at his passing and offer the following tribute by his friend and disciple, theologian Valerie Karras.
I am heartbroken, learning today of the death of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, my academic and religious idol, my mentor, and my friend. I first read his seminal work The Orthodox Church when I was a teenager and he still bore his baptismal name of Timothy (he took the name Kallistos—ancient Greek for “the most beautiful” or “the best”—upon monastic tonsure and ordination to the clergy). Many years later, in 1993, I had the pleasure of spending time with him at the international conference of the World Council of Churches’ Commission on Faith and Order at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. We got to know each other as seatmates during an afternoon bus trip that took us to several of the churches along the “Way to Santiago” pilgrimage, a trip that thousands do on foot every year. We remained in occasional contact, and the even more occasional meeting in person for tea or lunch, after that. I was flattered by his interest in my research into patristic views of gender, and we enjoyed many lengthy discussions on this and other topics over the years. (When I was a professor at Saint Louis University, a Jesuit Catholic school, I told him that I used his book The Orthodox Way in my Theological Foundations classes because it was really basic Christian theology, and he confessed that a colleague of his at Oxford—where he taught for decades at Pembroke College—once asked him why he hadn’t just titled it The Christian Way.) Kallistos was an excellent and well-regarded scholar of Byzantine church history, Orthodox theology, and related areas. More importantly, he was an excellent person: genuinely good and caring, humorous (and frequently enjoying his own humor), intellectually curious, and strong in his faith and his commitment to Orthodoxy while thoughtful and open-minded as he pondered the distinctions between Tradition and traditions in the face of our broader society. I’m sorry that I missed seeing him the last time I was in the U.K., about three years ago (we were scheduled to have tea at his home, but he was called to the Patriarchate unexpectedly), especially since, it turns out, it would have been my last chance to see in person his twinkling eyes as he cracked a joke or to share an embrace. He is truly among the saints. May his memory be eternal—Αιωνία αυτού η μνήμη!
We are honored that Metropolitan Kallistos offered The Wheel one of his most challenging reflections, on the issue of human sexuality. You can read it here.
Thank you for this tribute Valerie. So well said. How blessed you were to spend time with him. I read his book and became Orthodox. It’s as simple as that! I was privileged to meet him later in my life. You described him so perfectly. Memory Eternal!
I will not get the opportunity to meet Bishop Kallistos Ware in this lifetime, however may his soul be at peace in the bosom of the Lord, and may he be spreading laughter and good humour in Heaven!