Update on Patriarch Bartholomew's Visit to Lithuania

On Tuesday 21 March 2023,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew,on the second day of his three day official visit to Lithuania,conferred with Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte.They announced that they are cooperating on establishing a branch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Lithuania.Its purpose is to serve residents of Lithuania who reject the Moscow Patriarchate's support for Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine,including a number of Ukrainians and Belarusians,as well as five Lithuanian clerics who had been deposed by the Moscow Patriarchate for opposing the Ukraine war.* In the course of his visit,Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was also scheduled to meet with President Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania,as well as the Parliament leader.Lithuania is a former Soviet Republic.Located in the Baltic Sea Region of Eastern Europe,it belongs to NATO and the EU.