Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Marks His Name Day on 11 June

The feast day of the Holy Apostles Barnabas and Bartholomew is the name day of His All-Holiness Ecumencial Patriarch Bartholomew.In observance,he will first preside at Vespers on 10 June at the Patriarchal Church of St.George.Then he will go next door to perform an agiasmos,a blessing by water,for the completion of renovations at the Phanar Greek Orthodox College (High School),the oldest and most prestigious Greek Orthodox school in Istanbul.Also called the Great School of the Nation,it was founded in 1454 by Patriarch Gennadios Scholarios.Phanar means "lantern" and refers to the patriarchate environs.After the blessing,he will receive the regards of the clerics and faithful for his name day.The current building dates from the 19th century and has the appearance of a red castle.The turret on top contains an observatory dome.The observatory hosts astronomy classes which use its large antique telescope.The private school teaches the required Turkish curriculum as well as Greek language,literature and religion.It has six Turkish teachers and fifteen Greek teachers.*The next day,His All-Holiness will preside at the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Church of St.George.Concelebrating will be clerics from Constantinople and abroad.Following the dismissal,Patriarch Bartholomew will be addressed by the dean of the Phanar,His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon,and will respond to the good wishes.

Bulletin:Pope and Ecumenical Patriarch Will Meet to Celebrate 1700th Anniversary of Historic Council of Nicea

His Holiness Pope Francis plans to visit the Patriarchate of Constantinople and Nicea (Iznik,Turkey) and join with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for this historic celebration,according to EWTN Catholic news agency.The Council of Nicea,the First Ecumenical Council,held in 325,is a symbol of Christian unity,establishing the Nicene Creed and the date of Easter.In 2025,the date of Easter will be the same in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars,making this a perfect occasion for a shared ecumenical celebration.An organizing committee,made up of both Catholics and Orthodox,will soon meet in Istanbul to plan the event.

Kafenin Altındaki Büyük Saray Kalıntıları (Remains of the Great Palace of Constantinople)

Petrion Surları (Petrion Walls),Constantinople/Istanbul

The ruins back to a Greek Primary School.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Halki Summit V Istanbul - Keynote address

ISTANBUL: Heybeliada island (Halki), the ⛪✝️ Theological School (closed in 1971)

Update:Patriarch Bartholomew Discharged From Hospital

On 30 December 2021,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was discharged from the American Hospital in Istanbul,Turkey.He had spent a six-day quarantine there following a positive test for COVID-19,having suffered mild symptoms.He will complete his isolation at the patriarchal residence,Therapeia,before presiding at Epiphany services in the Patriarchal Church of St.George at the patriarchal compound in Constantinople,the Phanar. Before he left the private hospital,which was founded by a US Navy officer in 1920,the patriarch receievd his third call from the Turkish Health Minister,Mr.Farhettin Koca,who inquired how the leader of Eastern Orthodoxy was doing,and offered the services of the Ministry of Health to him whenever needed.

Bulgarian Hierarch Concelebrates With Metropolitan Emmanuel

On 26 December 2021,His Eminence Metropolitan Kiprian of Stara Zagora (Patriarchate of Bulgaria) concelebrated the Divine Liturgy of the Sunday After Christmas with His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and His Grace Bishop Adrianos of Halikarnassos (Ecumenical Patriarchate),who oversees the District of Phanar-Keratios Gulf,at the Church of St.Stephen in Balat,Istanbul.Also serving was the Very Reverend Archimandrite Charalambos Nichev,pastor of the Bulgarian Community in Constantinople.* The liturgy was attended by several dignataries,including the Consul General of Bulgaria in Istanbul,His Excellency Vassil P. Valchev;President of the Bulgarian Community,Mr.Vasil Liaze;as well as pilgrims from Bulgaria and members of the Bulgarian language Community in Constantinople.Consul General Valchev read a message from the President of Bulgaria,His Excellency Rumen Radev.* Analysis:Possibly the Bulgarian concelebration will irritate the Patriarchate of Moscow,which has severed communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate over the granting of autocephaly (independence) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on 5 January 2019.*

Aya Yorgi Kilisesi, Fener Rum Patrikhanesi (The Patriarchal Church of St...

Ukraine Update:Tomos Takes Effect - Ukraine's leading presidential candidate shares her opinion

On 5 January 2018,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew,who is 78,signed into effect the Tomos of Autocephaly for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine at a ceremony in Constantinople.Attending the event in the Patriarchal Church of St.George in the Phanar,the Patriarchate's enclave in Istanbul,Turkey,was the first Primate of the new Church,His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kiyiv and All Ukraine,and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
On 6 January,the two Primates will concelebrate the Divine Liturgy in the same church,and afterwards Patriarch Bartholomew will present the scrolled,handwritten and illuminated Tomos manuscript to Metropolitan Epifaniy.The manuscript will then be put on public display in the Small Sofia Church in Kyiv,following the Christmas Divine Liturgy celebrated by Metropolitan Epifaniy,39,at the St.Sofia Cathedral,the large church in the national heritage site,which will be filled with dignitaries attending the service,including intellectual and cultural figures.The general public will be able to pray in the cathedral courtyard in front of a big screen TV.*
The leading presidential candidate in the March election in Ukraine,Yulia Tymoshenko,praised the Tomos in a Facebook post,calling its signing:
a big and bright day in our national history.
The Tomos is a landmark.This is a symbol of the spiritual identity of the nation and a huge inspiration for the unity of Ukraine.May the Lord help us on our way.With faith in Ukraine;with faith in a better future.Onward,Ukraine!*
Ms.Tymoshenko,who was prime minister of Ukraine from 2007-10,currrently has a wide lead over her rivals,including the incumbent Mr.Poroshenko.She supports Ukraine's joining NATO and the European Union.

Ceremony Reaffirms Enduring Ties Between Jerusalem and Constantinople

Despite the recent belligerence of Moscow,the bonds between the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople were unequivocally reaffirmed as the Ecumenical Patriarchate's foremost lay associate,Mr.Panteleimon Vigkas,was honoured by the Jerusalem Patriarchate at an evening ceremony on 22 October 2018 in its Metochion,or ecclesiastical embassy,on the Bosporus in Istanbul,Turkey.At the Metochion's Church of St.George Neochori,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople invested Mr.Vigkas,who holds the title Archon Chartophilakas of the Great Church of Christ,with the honour Crusader of the Panaghian Tomb,rewarding Mr.Vigkas for his Merit of Mercy to the Holy Sepulchre on behalf of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and All Palestine.*
Representing the Jerusalem Patriarchate was His Eminence Archbishop Nektarios of Anthidona,Greece,Commissioner of the Holy Sepulchre.Patriarch Bartholomew also presided at the Vespers of St.James the Brother of God,First Bishop of Jerusalem,at the Metochion Church that evening.*
Mr.Vigkas is seldom far from Patriarch Bartholomew's side.He serves as President of the Imvros Educational and Cultural Association,which celebrates the heritage of Imvros,Patriarch Bartholomew's  home island,now known as Gokceada,Turkey.

Ukrainian Orthodox Church Reunited to Constantinople,Restored to Communion - but the process continues

His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France,flanked by the Ecumenical Patriarchate's two exarchs to Ukraine,Archbishop Daniel of Pamphilon and Bishop Ilarion of Edmonton,read a press release today in the Phanar,the Patriarchate of Constantinople's compound in Istanbul,Turkey.It said that,by decree of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,the Patriarchate,the Mother Church,has been reunited with the two schismatic Ukrainian Orthodox groups.Their hierarchy and faithful have been restored to canonical status and readmitted to communion with the Orthodox Church.*
In addition,the Patriarchate has re-established its metochion,or representative church,in the Ukrainian capital Kiev,which had customarily existed there and in other major Ukrainian cities;while the agreement that,by the exercising of ekonomia,had allowed the Patriarchate of Moscow to ordain the Metropolitan of Kiev,has been canceled.
All concerned were admonished to behave in a peaceful,non-confrontational manner.
The decision to grant autocephaly,or independence,was reaffirmed;yet,as His Eminence Metropolitan Arsenios of Hungary noted,the actual granting of a Tomos of Autocephaly has been postponed until the appropriate time.*
Analysis:The aspiring Church must now hold an assembly and elect a primate,someone who can receive such an important document as a Tomos of Autocephaly.

Constantinople Update:Patriarch Kirill to Visit Ecumenical Patriarchate - plus the Synaxis of the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne

The Chief Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has issued a communique informing us that,on 31 August 2018,His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia,in accordance with his own wishes,will visit the Ecumenical Patriarchate with his entourage to discuss matters of mutual interest.The meetings with His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and the competent bodies will be conducted with a view to unity.*
Following Patriarch Kirill's visit,the Synaxis of the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne,led by Patriarch Bartholomew,will commence.In another communique,the Chief Secretary says that,before the start of the Synaxis,the hierarchs will worship together on 1 September,the Ecclesiastical New Year of the Orthodox Church,invoking the grace of God for a blessing on the Holy Church and for the peace of the whole world,through the prayers of the Panagia Pammakaristos,referring to the Byzantine mosaic icon of the Most Holy Theotokos that survived the Ottoman onslaught of the fifteenth century and beyond,and is today enshrined in the Patriarchal Church of St.George in the Phanar,the Patriarchal complex in Istanbul.1 September is also the feast day of this icon.
The purpose of the Synaxis,which will run from 1-3 September,is to exchange views on ecclesiastical topics and enhance the bonds with the Mother Church,the communique explains.

Patriarch Bartholomew Summons Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne for Synaxis

The Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne have been called into session (Synaxis) by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople,the Ecumenical Patriarchate announced in a press release.The Patriarchate's bishops from around the world will gather in Constantinople from 1-3 September 2018,in accordance with the decision to have a full meeting every three years.The last such assembly was held in September 2015.*
The hierarchs will discuss topics relating to the Mother Church,as well as current affairs in the wider Orthodox world.The last Synaxis was attended by some 140 bishops meeting in the Hagia Triados,the Church of the Holy Trinity on Taksim Square,Istanbul.The nineteenth century church in memorable Byzantine Revival architecture is still in parish use today.*
Analysis:Gathering under this church's single dome and two bell towers,the hierarchs of the Great Church of Christ will recharge their ministry together,having assembled from as far afield as the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches of the USA and Canada,the Orthodox Church of Finland and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.

Patriarch Bartholomew Hosts Many Balkan Visitors,Making Candid Remarks on Recent Controversies

Between 10-11 April 2018,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople received a series of visitors from the Balkans.On 10 April arrived the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina,His Excellency Mladen Ivanic.Mr.Ivanic and Patriarch Bartholomew reviewed the issues of the day for about thirty minutes.
This session was followed about an hour later by a private meeting between His All-Holiness and the President of FYROM,the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,Gjeorge Ivanov,along with his wife and son,as well as  some of his colleagues and the FYROM Ambassador to Turkey.As before,many important issues were gone over;while,at the same time,there was an exchange of Paschal greetings and gifts.
At both meetings with the Balkan leaders,Patriarch Bartholomew was joined by His Eminence Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima,a well-known theologian;His Eminence Metropolitan Elpidoforos of Bursa,Turkey;and the Very Rev.Archimandrite Joachim (Billis),Chief Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod.*
On 11 April,His All-Holiness addressed a number of professors and students from the St.Clement of Ohrid Theological Seminary in Skopje,FYROM,who were on a visit to Constantinople and Thessaloniki,Greece.Deploring the Church of Bulgaria's recent effort to grant autocephaly to the Macedonian Orthodox Church,which no other autocephalous Orthodox Church recognises,Patriarch Bartholomew admitted:
I am thinking about this because I want to be perfectly honest with you.This action of the sister Church of Bulgaria was wrong.It does not help.It complicates things.The Mother Church of all the Balkan peoples is Constantinople.That is what the true history says.What is being discussed is a fictitious mother.And Bulgaria cannot introduce you to canonicity,or normal relations with the other Churches.There must be direct,honest and sincere inter-Orthodox relations.
Every time a Synaxis of Orthodox Primates is convened either here or in Chambesy,the Ecumenical Patriarchate's attempt is to put all subjects on the table and to discuss them with honesty and sincerity.*
The Patriarch made an open invitation to the FYROM theological educators and students:
Know that we love you,and come whenever you want in this beautiful and historic City,where are the Courtyards of the Mother Church,from which you,and all the Balkan peoples,received baptism and the light of Christianity.Therefore,every time you come here to us in Istanbul,you do not have to feel that you are strangers,that you are guests;but that you are at home.
We have high hopes for you and for your ministry in the Church in the future.These are true despite the fact that there are currently problems between your country and Greece,and between your Church and all other Orthodox Churches.Precisely,we count on the new generation of theologians and clergy,which can help strengthen relations of neighbouring peoples and between the Orthodox Churches.Today,our generation,the older generation,will do everything we can to improve the situation,especially our Ecumenical Patriarchate,which has the coordinating role in the transcendental things-and after our generation,you will take over and you will continue,cultivate and augment these good relations between our peoples and our Churches.*
Following his moving address,His All-Holiness distributed with his blessing to the FYROM pilgrims books on the history of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the official texts of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete in 2016;Easter eggs and holy keepsakes.They were also invited to dine with the Patriarch in the Patriarchal refectory.

Patriarch Bartholomew Hosts Large Group from Catholic Diocese of Rome - strongly reaffirms Catholic-Orthodox dialogue

In Istanbul on 3 April 2018,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople,leader of the millions of Orthodox Christians worldwide,received a group of 70 Catholic priests from the Diocese of Rome.The priests,led by His Excellency Archbishop Angelo de Donatis,Papal Vicar for the Diocese,are on a pilgrimage to Christian sites in Turkey.
Patriarch Bartholomew stated that:
Even though it is slow,the path of our Holy Church is irreversible,because God wants it,and we must be her witnesses in a world that is losing its interest in God.*
On his relations with His Holiness Pope Francis,His All-Holiness reflected:
Our meetings,our common perseverance in finding all possible ways to resolve the unresolved issues between our Churches,have been marked by great mutual respect;trust;and mutual Christian love.We are sure that,when the times are ripe,our Churches will know with humility and willingness to put together a common project.

In Memoriam Metropolitan Iakovos of Pringiponnisos (Princes Island):Hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne Dies in Istanbul

On 28 March 2018 at 3:00 am,His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos of Pringiponnisos (Princes Island,Turkey) departed this life at an Istanbul Hospital after a long illness.He was about 71.His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew served the trisagion memorial service at the Church of St.George in the Patriarchal compound,the Phanar.*
Born in Constantinople,Metropolitan Iakovos (Sofroniadis) attended the Zografio Gymnasium (high school) and subsequently entered Halki Theological School.On 14 September 1969,he was ordained a hierodeacon with the name Iakovos.Upon graduating from Halki in 1970,he was appointed Patriarchal Deacon and Rapporteur (researcher) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.In 1974,he was promoted to Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Patriarchate.Elected Metropolitan of Laodicea in 1984 and a Hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne in 1994,he was transferred to the Metropolis of Princes Islands in the Sea of Marmara,near Istanbul.*
In the course of his career,His Eminence was the author of many articles,studies and speeches in the journals of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.Basically,he was a scholar in residence and was honoured by several Churches,including those of Jeruslaem;Russia;Greece;Romania;and Georgia;as well as many Metropolises and Institutions.In 2011,he was elected Associate Member of the historic Literary Association of Parnassos.He was also conferred with an Honourary Doctorate by the Democritus University of Thrace.

Patriarch Bartholomew Receives Russian Diplomats - invitation to Moscow discussed

On 29 August 2017,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received the Russian Ambassador to Turkey,His Excellency Alexei Erkhov,and the Russian Consul General in Istanbul,the Honourable Dmitry Evdokimov,according to a press release by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.The cordial talks lasted about an hour.Among the topics discussed were the relations between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Moscow Patriarchate;Ukraine;and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia's invitation to the Ecumenical Patriarch to visit Moscow in December 2017.*
Another topic covered extensively was the assassination of Mr.Erkhov's predecessor,Andrei Karlov,by Turkish off duty police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas at a photography exhibition in Ankara on 19 December 2016.The killing occurred against the backdrop of a Turkish Islamist protest against Russia's involvement in the Syrian Civil War,particularly in Aleppo.Altintas was himself shot dead by Turkish security forces and his body disowned by his family.A statue of Ambassador Karlov is to be installed outside the Russian Embassy in Ankara.*
Ambassador Erkhov had previously served as Consul General in Istanbul,so has an expert knowledge of matters of concern to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the other Turkish minorities.

Episcopal Consecration of Astoria's Abbot Ierotheos Scheduled

The consecration to the episcopacy of the Rt.Rev Archimandrite Ierotheos Zacharis,Abbot of the Sacred Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of St.Irene Chrysovalantou in Astoria,New York,has been set for Orthodoxy Sunday,5 March 2017.It will take place at the St.George Cathedral in the Fanar,the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople/Istanbul,Turkey.Archimandrite Ierotheos was elected to be Bishop of Evkarpia by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Patriarchate.Evkarpia is located on the outskirts of Thessaloniki,Greece,in the New Lands of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.*
The festive occasion will begin with Great Vespers on Saturday evening,presided by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.The following day,the first Sunday of Lent,which is called the Sunday of Orthodoxy,the Synodical Divine Liturgy and consecration will be presided at the cathedral by His Eminence Bartholomew,who is the new Metropolitan of Smyrna/Izmir,Turkey and Chief Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets religious leaders, photo op with Erdogan,Patriarch Bartholomew - October 2015