Pirri-Simonian: Women Weaving the Mosaic of Middle East

Teny Pirri-Simonian

Teny Pirri-Simonian, an adult educator, lay theologian, and researcher in the Sociology of Religions, is a member of the Armenian Orthodox Church, Catholicosate of Cilicia, Antelias, Lebanon. She grew up in the Middle East and is currently living and working in Switzerland.

She has held leadership positions in the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC), paying special attention to women in the Orthodox Churches. Currently she is working with the General Secretary of the WCC on a special project. She is the Vice President of the Ecumenical Relations Committee of The Catholicosate of Cilicia, which also includes interreligious relations; a member of the commission on Churches and Religions of the Council of Churches in the Canton of Vaud (Switzerland); and co-founder and coordinator of the European Project for Interreligious Learning (EPIL).

She has written extensively on the role of women in the church and society, and on women living together in religiously pluralist societies. She is a director with the Global Peace Initiative for Women.