Ecumenical Patriarch

Bilateral meeting between Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan Sawa of Poland

As part of his three-day visit to Poland, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met with the Primate of the Polish Orthodox Church in Warsaw on Bright Friday, May 3, 2019. After joining the March of the Living, an event that takes place every year to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, the Ecumenical Patriarch was welcomed at…

May 4, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch about Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp: This place will always be a symbol of radical evil

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Thursday joined the March of the Living, a 3-kilometer walk from the Auschwitz concentration camp to Birkenau in Poland, to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. The annual march coincides with Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) and marks the murder of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. Participants in the…

May 4, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

In Easter message, Ecumenical Patriarch rejects conception that Orthodoxy is “introverted, unworldly and indifferent”

In this year’s patriarchal encyclical for Holy Pascha, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew rejected the conception that ‘Orthodoxy is introverted, unworldly and indifferent to history and civilization’, saying that this is ‘a complete misinterpretation of Orthodox self-consciousness as well as of the social and charitable work of the Church’. Pascha is not only the greatest feast of…

Apr 26, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expresses horror at Sri Lanka attacks

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expressed his solidarity with the Sri Lankan people and voiced his horror at a series of explosions at churches and hotels that killed more than 200 people and injured hundreds during Easter observed by the Catholic Church. His Holiness unambiguously condemned all acts of terror, as well as any act of hatred,…

Apr 22, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch: Notre-Dame is not just a cathedral, it is the symbol of common ideals of humanity

In a letter of compassion sent to the President of France Emmanuel Macron following the fire that broke out at Notre Dame Cathedral, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said that ‘it is not just a Cathedral, but it represents a visible meeting point of Christian faith and human genius, a symbol of the common ideals of humanity,…

Apr 17, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch pays homage to predecessor at Constantinople gate that remained closed for 198 years

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Wednesday lit a candle and laid flowers at the closed gate of the Patriarchate’s entrance at the Phanar as a homage to his predecessor, Hieromartyr Saint Gregory V, who was hanged in this place 198 years ago. According to the Patriarchate’s press office, His Holiness prayed for a few minutes at…

Apr 11, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch’s Lenten Message focuses on ascetism as common vocation for all faithful

Ascetism takes center stage in Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s Lenten message this year, which represents a common vocation for all faithful without exception. ‘Asceticism is Christianity in its entirety,’ Patriarch Bartholomew wrote in his catechetical homily at the opening of Holy and Great Lent published March 4, 2019. ‘The purpose of ascesis is the transcendence of…

Mar 5, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

The Ecumenical Patriarch performs the Blessing of the Waters in Triglia for the first time since 1922

For the first time in history, an Ecumenical Patriarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Triglia (Tirilye), in the Province of Bursa, and the ceremony of the Blessing of the Waters with the diving for the Cross in the Sea of Marmara. It was the first time for 97 years that a diving for the Cross…

Jan 22, 2019Gheorghe Anghel

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew prays for a successful Romanian Presidency of EU Council

His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has sent a letter to His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel after Romania took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on January 1, 2019. In his letter signed on January 12, 2019, at Constantinople, His Holiness expressed his wholehearted commendation ‘for this great honour and responsibility’ offered to…

Jan 17, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch’s 2018 Christmas Message warns about new forms of nestorianism and monophysitism

In this year’s Christmas Message, His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew warns about contemporary ‘nestorianism’ understood as secularization and scientism, and a new form of ‘monophysitism’ represented by tendencies to demonize the body and natural man, by puritanism and the syndromes of “purity,” by fruitless introverted spirituality and various mysticisms. Patriarchal Proclamation of Christmas 2018 by…

Dec 21, 2018Aurelian Iftimiu

His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visits the DMZ

On Saturday, December 8, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited the DMZ area of Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea, Orthodox Metropolis of Korea reports. He shared in the pain that the division of the peninsula has brought to the Korean people. Together with Koreans he held a memorial service for those fallen during the Korean…

Dec 11, 2018Gheorghe Anghel