Faculty

Faculty Directors

Dean Christopher Brittain

Dean of Divinity, Trinity College

BA (University of New Brunswick), MDiv (Trinity College), PhD (St Michael's College)

Christopher Brittain was appointed Dean of Divinity on 1 July 2017, replacing Dean David Neelands who had served in that post since 2002.

Dean Brittain is an Anglican priest and alumnus of Trinity College. After completing his PhD from the University of St. Michael’s College, he served as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From 2007 to 2017, he was Professor of Social and Political Theology at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and served as Academic Dean of three disciplines – Divinity, Religious Studies and Philosophy – overseeing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in each discipline.

Along with serving in a prominent leadership role in Trinity College as a whole, Dean Brittain is responsible for the formation of individuals for Christian ministry and supervision of doctoral students.

Very Rev Dr Geoffrey Ready

Director, Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College

BSocSci and BA (University of Ottawa), BEd (University of Western Ontario), BTh (Saint Paul University), ThM Studies (Holy Cross Orthodox School of Theology), DMin (University of Toronto)

The Very Reverend Archpriest Geoffrey Ready was born in Canada and grew up in the greater Toronto area. After theological studies in Ottawa and at Holy Cross Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, he served overseas for 12 years, first in Northern Ireland and then in France.

In addition to directing the Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College, serving as Vice Chair of Trinity College Divinity Council, directing the Orthodox Christian Fellowship and serving as Orthodox campus chaplain at the University of Toronto, Fr Geoffrey is also priest-in-charge of Holy Myrrhbearers Orthodox Mission, an English language mission serving in the chapel of Trinity College. He represents the Archdiocese of Canada of the Orthodox Church in America on the Canadian Council of Churches' Commission on Faith and Witness as well as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity committee.

Fr Geoffrey is married and has three boys.

Prof Richard Schneider

Founder, Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College

BA (Dartmouth College 1959), MFA (Princeton University 1961), MPhil (Columbia University 1963)

Prof Richard Schneider's chief teaching areas include church history in all periods and especially the Iconology — i.e., the liturgical theology — of the visual, including art and architecture, in Orthodoxy (and in the medieval West).

Prof Schneider is the Emeritus President of the Canadian Council of Churches and he continues to be deeply concerned with ecumenism and Eastern-Western Christian relations and pan-Orthodox relations. He is keenly interested in the critical-thinking hermeneutic issues which challenge History-as-Theology.

Dr Ramez Boutros

BA, DEA, Dip Arch, PhD

Dr Ramez Boutros holds a PhD in Sciences de l'Antiquité from the University of Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France, and teaches courses in Egyptian and Near Eastern Christianity and monasticism for the Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College. He has also lectured at Regis College, the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, and Huron College at the University of Western Ontario.

Dr Boutros's areas of special interest include Coptic architecture and archaeology, the history and archaeology of pilgrimage sites in the mediaeval period, pilgrimage sites and cult of the physician saints, cultural exchanges in the monastic and pilgrimage sites, and early women's monasticism in the Near and Middle East.

Rev Dr Georgi Despodov

BTh, ThM (Sofia University), PhD Musicology (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)

Holding a PhD in musicology from the Institute of Art Studies of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Fr Georgi Despodov teaches liturgical music for the Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College.

His teaching and research interests include church music, historical musicology, music therapy and education, patrology, dogmatics, history and liturgics.

Fr Georgi serves at the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas in Scarborough.

Dr Paul Ladouceur

BA (Université de Montréal), MA (Carleton University), DPhil (University of Sussex), Diplôme en théologie orthodoxe (Université de Sherbrooke)

Dr Paul Ladouceur is an Orthodox theologian and writer living in Québec. He teaches theology and spirituality in the Orthodox theology programmes at Trinity College, University of Toronto, and Université Laval (in Montreal).

He has written or edited several books on Orthodoxy, including a general introduction to Orthodoxy under the title Living Orthodoxy (also in French, Rencontre avec l’Orthodoxie), and a book on Saint Maria of Paris (Mother Maria Skobtsova) (Sainte Marie de Paris, Une sainte des temps modernes). He has edited a book of writings of Father Lev Gillet (A Monk of the Eastern Church), published in France (2008), and a book of translations of writings of Saint Maria of Paris (Mother Maria Skobtsova), published in France (2011), and has published articles on Orthodox spirituality and theology in France, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

He is responsible for the French-language web site Pages Orthodoxes La Transfiguration and an electronic bulletin, Lumière du Thabor. He is a member of the Faith and Witness Commission of the Canadian Council of Churches.

Dr Ladouceur’s teaching interests include Christian spirituality, especially spirituality of the Eastern Church; Orthodox spirituality in the twentieth century; modern Orthodox theology; Orthodox dogmatic theology; Christianity in Russia; and the theology and history of ecumenism. His principal specialized research interests are Saint Maria of Paris and modern Orthodox spirituality and theology.

View Dr Ladouceur's profile on academia.edu >

Dr Daniel G. Opperwall

BA (Hope College), MA (Wayne State University), PhD (McMaster University)

Dr Daniel G. Opperwall is an Orthodox scholar and writer. At the Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College, he teaches courses in Theology, Patristics and History.

A student of classics and patristics by training, his wide-ranging interests tend to centre on how ancient theological, philosophical and spiritual insights should best inform life in the modern church. His first book, titled A Layman in the Desert: Monastic Wisdom for a Life in the World, is now available from St Vladimir's Seminary Press.

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Dr Opperwall now lives in Hamilton, Ontario with his wife and two young children. They attend Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church in Waterloo.

View Dr Opperwall's author website >

Rev Fr Theodore Paraskevopoulos

BTh (Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy, under University of Sherbrooke), MA Theology (St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary), DMin - ABD (St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary)

Fr Theodore was born in Toronto and grew up in Ajax, and after high school attended the Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy (Under University of Sherbrooke) where he received his Bachelor degree in Theology. He then continued his education at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, in Crestwood, New York, where he received his Masters of Arts in Theology with a specialization in Liturgical Theology. His SVS thesis was, “Cabasilas and Communion: The Effect of Nicholas Cabasilas’ Liturgical Commentary On the Decline of Frequent Communion."

Fr Theodore is currently working on his Doctorate of Ministry at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary focusing on Adult Religious Education and Liturgy. He is priest-in-charge of Sts Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Toronto, and currently serves in the following capacities:

Professor of Pastoral Theology - Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy
Lecturer - Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College
Doctoral Student - Doctorate of Ministry Program, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary
Orthodox Representative - Commission on Faith and Witness, Canadian Council of Churches
Co-Founder and Assistant Spiritual Director - Camp Metamorphosis Orthodox Summer Camps (19 years experience)
Founder of the “Re-Catechism” Adult Religious Education Movement
Host of “iSermon” Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio
Host of “Fr.TEDTalks” Video Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio

Fr Theodore has been married to his loving wife Joanna since 2006 and has three beautiful children George, Katherine and Angelo.

Dr Maria-Fotini Polidoulis Kapsalis

BA (Victoria College), MTS (Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology), BEd (University of Toronto), PhD in Theology (St Michael’s College, Toronto)

Dr Maria-Fotini Polidoulis Kapsalis is the first female theologian in the Greek Orthodox Church of Canada. She joined Trinity in 2006 as an adjunct instructor. Her area of interest is early church history, dogmatics, early Christian Fathers and ethics, with a focus on Christian anthropology. Her thesis dissertation explored the meaning of authority in the writings of St. John Chrysostom.

Her most recent publication is “St. John Chrysostom’s Interpretation of Κεφαλή in 1 Corinthians 11:3-16,” Greek Orthodox Theological Review, Vol. 49, Nos. 3-4, (2004). She was one of the co-founders of the original Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) at U of T in 1990 and has been involved with youth ministry in Toronto for many years, especially at her home parish of St Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church. She has lectured at various venues in Ontario including Inter-Faith Symposiums, and Clergy/Laity Conferences for the Greek Orthodox Metropolis.

She is also currently a teacher with the Toronto District School Board. She resides in Toronto with her husband and two children.

Dr Nicole Roccas

BA (University of Wisconsin), MA (University of Cincinnati), PhD European History (University of Cincinnati)

In addition to lecturing at the Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College, Dr Nicole Roccas is an editor and writer. She is the author and producer of Time Eternal, an Ancient Faith podcast and blog that sojourns time, eternity, and the faith in between. Her book, Time and Despondency: Regaining the Present in Faith and Life (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2017), explores the relationship between human perceptions of time and the spiritual sickness of acedia. She has her PhD in History from the University of Cincinnati.

When not plumbing the depths of temporal existence, she enjoys knitting, hiking, reading, teaching, and talking to people. For more information about her editorial services, visit her website The Writer's Loom.