Cleenewerck was born in Montpelier, France in 1969 and spent part of his childhood in Connecticut. After earning a Baccalaureat C in 1986, he graduated from two national programs and from the University of Montpelier, France in 1989 with degrees in Computer Science, International Affairs, Finance and Business Administration. He holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute and a Master's in Ecumenical Studies from the Ukrainian Catholic University, being the first graduate in that program's English-language stream. He also pursued further studies at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary in 2002-2004 and obtained a Doctorate of Science in the Study of Religion from the Universidad Rural de Guatemala.
Professional life
Cleenewerck currently teaches theology and international administration for EUCLID, and as extension faculty for the Humboldt State University. He is the rector of St. Innocent's Orthodox parish in Eureka and engaged in public lecturing, ministry, as well as further writing and research.
Prior to 2004, he held managerial and technological positions in Paris and California while being active with various associations, notably in the field of refugee assistance and bioethics.
Although retired from non-academic public activities, he is a member of several professional and academic associations, including the Orthodox Theological Society of America and Euclid's Organization of the Study of Treaty Law.
Scientific, diplomatic and educational work
After holding technical positions at IBM and Neurones in the early 1990s, he relocated to Silicon Valley, California and pursued work in applying Internet technologies to social programs. He was one of the co-founders of the Republic of Lomar Foundation, a visionary effort to renew the concept of the Nansen passport which lasted until 2002. In 2003-2004, he also served as Secretary-General of the Human Bioethics Treaty Organization, a non-governmental organization dedicated to inter-religious and non-religious bioethical reflection.
His epistemological approach heavily relies on the primacy of the scientific method of inquiry, critical thinking and dialectical confrontations. Following John Polkinghorne and William Lane Craig, Cleenewerck is convinced that the convergence between science and theology provides for new avenues of dialogue, reflection and apologetics. He considers diplomacy an essential human activity with great applicability to all aspects of human life, especially religious dialogue.
Cleenewerck's main ideas are presented in his comprehensive study of the historical and theological causes of the current separation between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Like John Zizioulas, he is an advocate of Eucharistic ecclesiology which he articulates as Holographic anesthesiology. The outline and implication of this model were published in the Journal of Ecumenical Studies in 2010. He is a proponent of non-partisan ecumenical dialogue with the ideal of a return to the basics of pre-Nicene orthodoxy. Pr. Cleenewerck currently serves as editor of the EOB of which the New Testament volume was published in 2010. His Catechism of the Orthodox Faith has been announced for 2016. He is also engaged in public debates and interested in constructive dialogue between Christianity and Islam.
Interfaith Award
Cleenewerck authored an academic paper on Christian - Muslim dialogue as part of the 2016 UN World Interfaith Harmony Week organized by EUCLID, which won the first prize award as an organization. In April 2016, he was invited to receive an award from King Abdullah II of Jordan and to deliver a speech at the award ceremony of the World Interfaith Harmony Week held in Amman, Jordan.
