His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
Ecumenical Patriarchy is the primary church center of the Orthodox Church in the world, tracing its history from the Day of Pentecost and early Christian congregations founded by the Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to tradition, St Andrew, the First Called Apostle, preached the Gospel in the vast territories of Asia Minor, Black sea coast, Thrace and Achaea, where he was martyred. In 36 AD, Andrew founded a local church on the coast of Bosporus, in a city, which was then called Byzantium, later renamed into Constantinople, and now called Istanbul. Saint Andrew is the heavenly patron of the Ecumenical Patriarchy and is remembered on November 30.
Ecumenical Patriarch and Pope John Paul II
The title Ecumenical Patriarch originated in the 6th century AD and is the exclusive privilege historically attributed to the Archbishop of Constantinople. As Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew occupies the First Throne of the Orthodox Christian Church and in keeping with his historic preeminence presides in a fraternal spirit among all the ancient Orthodox Primates – among the Churches of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, as well as among the later Patriarchies: of Russia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Georgia.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Benedict XVI
. In addition to that, the Ecumenical Patriarch fulfills his historic and spiritual mission to direct and coordinate the actions among the Churches of Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Albania, the CzechLand and Slovakia, Finland, Estonia, and numerous archdioceses in the whole world – in Europe, America, Australia, and in Asia. Also, it is his responsibility to convene All-Orthodox councils or meetings, and facilitate inter-church and inter-faith dialogues. The Ecumenical Patriarch serves as the primary expresser of Church unity as a whole, being its standard and its first spokesman. As Ecumenical Patriarch he transcends every national and ethnic group on a global level and today is the spiritual leader of approximately 300 million Orthodox believers world-wide.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, secular name Dimitrios Arhondonis, was born in 1940. In October of 1991, His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew was elected Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch. He is the 270th successor of the 2,000 year-old local Christian Church founded by St. Andrew the Apostle.
Meeting with Bill Clinton
Personal experience and theological education of the Ecumenical Patriarch provides an exceptional opportunity for him to develop ecumenical relationships and protect the environment. His All Holiness takes continual efforts to reconcile Christian Churches; he gained international acclaim for his contribution to increase the environmental awareness and sensitivity. He has put in much energy to arrive at the reconciliation with the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, as well as with other confessions, by means of theological dialogue and his personal contacts with religious leaders with the purpose of defining the points of reference that they share in common. He continues his close cooperation with the World Council of Churches, he formerly was a member of its Executive and General Boards, as well as a member of its “Faith and Order” Commission.
With Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands
Also, on his own initiative, he convened a number of international meetings and counsels with Muslim and Jewish leaders, aspiring to foster between them the feeling of mutual respect and of religious freedom in the whole world. For this purpose he strongly promotes inter-faith contacts throughout the world. On top of that, the Ecumenical Patriarch has played a leading role in the historical restoration of the Autocephalous Church of Albania and Autonomous Church of Estonia, and has been a constant source of spiritual and moral support to those traditionally Orthodox countries emerging from decades of wide scale religious persecution behind the Iron Curtain.
Meeting with US President Barak Obama
As a citizen of Turkey, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received primary education on the island of Imvros, and then studied in Constantinople. After graduating from the Theological Seminary on the island of Halki, His All Holiness continued his postgraduate studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, affiliated with RomanGregorianUniversity, then at the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey in Switzerland and Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich. His doctoral thesis was on the Canon Law. He was the founding member of the Society of Canon Law of the Eastern Churches. He was ordained deacon in 1961, and a priest – in 1969. Between 1968 and 1972, he was an assistant of the director of the Theological Seminary on the island of Halki. Then, until 1990, he acted as the director of the Bureau of his predecessor, commemorable Patriarch Demetrius. In 1973, he was elected Metropolitan of Philadelphia, and in 1990 – Metropolitan of Chalcedon.
Christmas Greeting Card from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with His autograph
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has been awarded honorary doctorates by a number of leading educational institutions around the world, among them: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Patras, University of Ioannina in Greece, Georgetown University and Yale University in the United States, Flinders University in Australia, Adamson University in the Philippines, as well as City University of London, and University of Edinburgh, Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, Moscow State University in Russia, Boulogne University, and University of Bucharest in Europe. He speaks in Greek, Turkish, Italian, German, French and English languages. He is also fluent in Ancient Greek and Latin languages.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s roles as the primary spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christian world and a transnational figure of global significance continue to become more vital each day. He co-sponsored the Peace and Tolerance Conferences against racism and fanaticism, bringing together Christians, Muslims and Jews to create an atmosphere of mutual understanding and trusted cooperation. He has been invited to speak in the European Parliament, UNESCO, at the World Economic Forum and in the parliaments of many countries. He has organized six international inter-faith congresses on the world environmental problems of rivers and seas, and these initiatives have earned him the title “Green Patriarch.” He has been awarded many significant prizes for his contribution into the struggle for preserving the environment.
The shepherding ministry of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is realized through the intensification of both inter-Orthodox cooperation and inter-Christian and inter-faith dialogue; it is also realized by his visiting Orthodox and Muslim countries that have been rarely visited in the past by the Primates of the Orthodox Church. His efforts on behalf of religious freedom and human rights together with his endeavours to advance religious tolerance between different world religions and his labour to maintain peace among the nations and preserve the environment rank Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew among the world’s foremost fighters for ideals as an apostle of love, peace and reconciliation. In 1997, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the U.S. Congress.
Information is taken from the site: http://www.patriarchate.org