Research interests
Viorel Coman is a FWO senior post-doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven (Belgium). He is a member and secretary of the Research Unit Systematic Theology and the Study of Religions. His post-doctoral research project explores André Scrima’s contribution to the ecumenical turn in Orthodox-Catholic relationships. Dr Coman’s previous FWO post-doctoral research (2017-2020) analyzed the interaction between the Orthodox Neo-Patristic Movement and the French Catholic Ressourcement.
Viorel Coman holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from the University of Bucharest, Romania (2009), a Master in Theology from the same University (2011), a Master of Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion from KU Leuven (2012), and a Doctorate in Theology from KU Leuven (2016). His doctoral dissertation focused on Dumitru Stăniloae’s Trinitarian ecclesiology. Further research interests include Trinitarian theology, pneumatology, ecclesiology, ecumenism, 20th-century Orthodox theology.
Membership
Viorel Coman has recently been nominated co-chair of the Ecumenical Dialogue Group of the International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA).
He is the former secretary (2018-2022) of the Societas Oecumenica-The European Society for Ecumenical Research, and a member of its current standing committee (2022-2024).
Viorel Coman is an associate member of the Center for Mission and Nomocanonical Studies (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) and a member of the European Academy of Religion (EuARe).
Monographs:
Coman, V. (2019). Dumitru Stăniloae’s Trinitarian Ecclesiology: Orthodoxy and the Filioque. Lanham, MD: Fortress Academic/Lexington.
Coman, V., Șelaru, S., and Gherga G. (2018). The Dogmatic Decrees of the Seven Ecumenical Councils. București: Basilica [in Romanian].
Edited Books:
Coman, V., and Tofan, I. A. (forthcoming 2024). Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the Culture of Dialogue: The Legacy of André Scrima. Leiden: Brill.
Coman, V., John, B. (Eds.) (forthcoming 2024). Living Tradition: Continuity and Change as Challenges to Churches and Theologies. The Proceedings of the 21st Academic Consultation of the Societas Oecumenica-The European Society for Ecumenical Research. Beihefte zur Ökumenischen Rundschau. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt.
De Mey, P., Struys, K., and Coman, V. (2022). Answerable for Our Beliefs: Reflections on Theology and Contemporary Culture Offered to Terrence Merrigan. Leuven-Paris-Bristol: Peeters.
Recent Articles:
Coman, V. (2022). “Orthodox Neo-Patristic Theology and the West: Dumitru Stăniloae on the Holy Spirit in the Church.” Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, 74 (3-4), 262-278.
Coman, V. (2022). “Reflexiones ortodoxas sobre la Encíclica Ut Unum Sint. Sobre el empeño ecuménico del Papa Juan Pablo II: Recepción y relevancia contemporánea.” Anales Valentinos: revista de filosofía y teología, Nueva Serie, 8 (16), 281-293.
Coman, V. (2021). “Mary as Mediatrix: André Scrima’s Contribution to the Mariological Chapter of Lumen Gentium.” Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, 73 (3-4), 291-316.
Coman, V. (2021). “André Scrima’s Ecumenical Vision and Its Relevance for the Post-Conciliar Orthodox Church.” St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, 64 (3-4), 181-210.
Coman, V. (2020). “André Scrima’s Contribution to the Ecumenical Turn in Orthodox-Catholic Relationships: A Historical Reconstruction (1957-1967).” Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 86 (2), 571-595.
Coman, V. (2020). “The Orthodox Neo-Patristic Movement’s Encounter with the Christian ‘Other’: An Ecumenical Hermeneutics of Receptivity.” Theological Studies, 81 (3), 717-740.
Coman, V. (2020). “Vladimir Lossky’s Involvement in the Dieu Vivant Circle and Its Ecumenical Journal.” Irish Theological Quarterly, 85 (1), 45-63.
Recent Book Chapters:
Coman, V. (forthcoming 2023). “The Trinitarian Pneumatology of Sergius Bulgakov and Dumitru Staniloae: Biblical Foundations.” In: N. Tanase, M. Portaru, D. Lemeni (Eds.), From Scripture to Philosophy. New Essays on Contemporary Topics by Romanian Theologians. Münster: LIT Verlag.
Coman, V. (2022). “Serving Communion: Re-Thinking the Relationship Between Primacy and Synodality. A Theological Analysis of the 2018 Document of the Saint Irenaeus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group.” In: C. Pogor, C. Apintiliesei (Eds.), Tendances et directions dans les recherches actuelles des théologiens orthodoxes roumains de la diaspora. (121-140). (Patrimoins). Paris: Cerf.
Coman, V. (2022). “Personhood and Salvation: John Zizioulas and David Bentley Hart.” In: N. Asproulis, O. Sevastyanova (Eds.), Holiness, Perfection, and Theosis: The Human Being as Capax Infinitis, (95-106). (Volos Academy & St John Chrysostom Institute Theology Series, 3). Volos: Volos Academy Publications.
Coman, V. (2021). “Церковь и вечность [Church and Eternity].” In: I. Noble, Z. Sirka (Eds.), Кто есть человек? Богословская антропология [Who Is a Human Being? Theological Anthropology], (455-476). (Современное богословие [Modern Theology]). ББИ.
Coman, V. (2021). “A Critical Assessment of Georges Florovsky’s Notion of Christian Hellenism as philosophia perennis.” In: N. Asproulis, O. Sevastyanova (Eds.), Ex Patribus Lux: Essays on Orthodox Theological Anthropology and Georges Florovsky’s Theology, (79-87). Volos: Volos Academy Publications.
Coman, V. (2021). “Prezența Duhului Sfânt în Biserică. Studiu asupra pnevmatologiei lui Georges Florovsky, Ioannis Zizioulas și Dumitru Stăniloae [The Holy Spirit in the Church. An Analysis of the Pneumatology of Georges Florovsky, John Zizioulas and Dumitru Staniloae].” In: N. Tanase, C. Jinga (Eds.), Polis si Paideia. Lucrarile simpozionului de educatie si spiritualitate ortodoxa, (65-80). Bucharest: Editura Academiei Romane.
Coman, V. (2021). “What Ecclesiology for the Pandemic? A Plea for a Trinitarian Model of the Church.” In: T. Tia, A. Podaru (Eds.), Pastorația și filantropia creștină în vreme de pandemie: șansă, povară sau normalitate identitară. Lucrările Simpozionului Internațioanal de Teologie, Istorie, Muzicologie și Artă, 2-3 noiembrie 2020, (311-334). Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană.
Coman, V. (2020). “Neo-Patristic Movement.” In: Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, (347-353). (33: 192-193a). Turnhout: Brepols.
Full list of publications at: http://lirias.kuleuven.be/cv?Username=u0096595