Inter-Orthodox Unity:Church of Greece Metropolitans Visit Ecumenical Patriarchate

On 20 November 2017,two metropolitans of the Church of Greece were received by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the Patriarchate in Istanbul.His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Messinia and His Eminence Metropolitan-elect Theoklitos of Stagoi and Meteora,who were accompanied by the Very Rev. Archimandrite Nifon (Kapsali),Abbot of Meteora Holy Monastery,would also concelebrate the Synodical and Patriarchal Divine Liturgy with Patriarch Bartholomew on 21 November,the feast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple,at the newly restored Cathedral of Our Lady of Pera (Beyoglu),aka Cathedral of St.George,on the European side of Istanbul.*
His Eminence Theoklitos sought the Patriarch's blessing for his upcoming enthronement on 25 November in Kalambaka,Greece.The Patriarch blessed the Metropolitan-elect and wished him a long and fruitful ministry to the glory of God and the benefit of the faithful of his Province,which is adorned by the famous Meteora Holy Monastery.*
Addressing His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos,Patriarch Bartholomew said he remembered with emotion his visit to Messinia and the warm expressions of faith and love towards the institution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate by the faithful of that Province.He asked that Metropolitan Chrysostomos convey to the people of Messinia his sincere paternal love and wish that the Virgin Mary will protect and empower them all.*
At the Divine Liturgy the next day,Patriarch Bartholomew asked the two metropolitans to convey to His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece his brotherly greeting and the readiness of the Church of Constantinople to always cooperate harmoniously with the Holy Church of Greece on the common good and for Pan-Orthodox unity.He particularly recalled the contribution of the Church of Greece to the success of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church on the island of Crete in June 2016.*
Other concelebrating metropolitans included His Eminence Bartholomew of Smyrna (Izmir,Turkey);His Eminence Elpidoforos of Proussos (Bursa,Turkey);and His Eminence Amfilojie of Adrianopolis,Director of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Office in Athens.