International Orthodox Christian News

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on Tuesday called on Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, immediately after arriving in Athens. There followed a dinner hosted by Archbishop Ieronymos for Patriarch Bartholomew and the delegation of high-ranking clerics accompanying him.

The Patriarch is due to visit the city of Larisa in central Greece to attend celebrations for St Achilleios on Wednesday, while his visit to Greece is expected to end Saturday.

In a speech during the dinner, Bartholomew referred to the Greek Archbishop’s visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Fanar, Istanbul just days before and praised him highly, describing him as a “good shepherd, an honest servant of the Church, a brilliant theologian, a distinguished scientist, a man of open horizons, contemporary concerns and great visions.”

Stressing that they had known each other for decades, the Ecumenical Patriarch also expressed conviction that relations between the Church of Greece and all the other Orthodox Churches would be greatly enhanced under Archbishop Ieronymos.

Replying, Archbishop Ieronymos stressed the need to make use of the bonds and ties between the Churches in order to “live in the unity of faith and communion with the Holy Spirit” and stressed the need to join in “redefining” the role of the Church to make it relevant to the needs and demands of the present day.

During Archbishop Ieronymos’ visit to Istanbul, the two Church leaders appeared to achieve much higher levels of agreement on issues that had seriously strained relations between the two Churches in the past, such as a spat in 2004 under the late Archbishop Christodoulos concerning a bid by Fanar to establish greater control over the administration of the so-called ‘New Lands’ dioceses in northern Greece.

Statue of Patriarch Constantine VI unveiled

Visiting Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew accompanied by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece unveiled Tuesday the statue of Patriarch Constantine VI at the Athens suburb of Nea Philadelphia.

During the unveiling ceremony, the Ecumenical Patriarch hailed the work of Patriarch Constantine VI who was elected in 1924, “two years after the Asia Minor disaster, that is, in times difficult for Hellenism”.

A dinner was hosted in honor of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Nea Philadelphia.

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