Head of the Greek Orthodox Church was in Ukraine on 8/12

 Head of the Greek Orthodox Church was in Ukraine on 8/12 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew who is on a visit to Ukraine

21 August 2021 - 

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who arrived in Ukraine at the invitation of the Head of State on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of independence.

"First of all, I want to thank you for this visit. For me personally, for Ukraine, for all of us, it is a great honor that you joined us on such important days as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of our independence. This is very important for us," the President stressed at the beginning of the meeting.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy reminded that he had paid a visit to the Ecumenical Patriarch twice during his term, and His All-Holiness is visiting our country for the third time.

"And it is on the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. And this is a significant event, as it takes place in the year of the 30th anniversary of your election as Ecumenical Patriarch," the Head of State said.

For his part, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew thanked the President of Ukraine for the invitation and stressed that he was happy to be on the beautiful hospitable Ukrainian land, especially when Ukraine celebrates the 30th anniversary of independence.

"It is a great honor for us to celebrate this important date for Ukraine together with you," His All-Holiness stressed.

During the conversation with the Ecumenical Patriarch, Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that our country is a unique example of peaceful coexistence of many denominations.

The Head of State thanked His All-Holiness for his unconditional personal support of Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. He also thanked for the constant prayers for peace in our country.

The interlocutors discussed the issue of a peaceful settlement in Donbas, the situation with the violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, in particular freedom of religion, in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that one of the factors that the aggressor uses against Ukraine as a hybrid weapon is religious.

https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/volodimir-zelenskij-zustrivsya-zi-vselenskim-patriarhom-varf-70201

Bartholomew I (Greek: Βαρθολομαῖος Αʹ, Bartholomaĩos A', Turkish: I. Bartholomeos; born 29 February 1940) is the 270th and current archbishop of Constantinople and ecumenical patriarch, since 2 November 1991.[1] In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the primus inter pares (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and as the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide.[a]

Bartholomew I was born as Dimitrios Arhondonis (Greek: Δημήτριος Αρχοντώνης, Dimítrios Archontónis), in the village of Agios Theodoros on the island of Imbros (later renamed Gökçeada by Turkey). After his graduation, he held a position at the Patriarchal Theological Seminary of Halki, where he was ordained a priest. Later, he served as metropolitan of Philadelphia and Chalcedon and he became a member of the Holy Synod as well as other committees, prior to his enthronement as ecumenical patriarch.

Bartholomew's tenure has been characterized by intra-Orthodox cooperation, intra-Christian and inter-religious dialogue, and formal visits to Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim leaders seldom previously visited by an ecumenical patriarch. He has exchanged numerous invitations with church and state dignitaries. His efforts to promote religious freedom and human rights, his initiatives to advance religious tolerance among the world's religions, as well as his efforts to promote ecology and the protection of the environment, have been widely noted, and these endeavors have earned him the title "The Green Patriarch".[20][21] Among his many international positions, he currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the Elijah Interfaith Institute.[22] Since 2018, several Orthodox Churches led by the Moscow Patriarchate have broken communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a result of disputes over his decision to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.[23][24]

Bartholomew I was born in the village of Agioi Theodoroi on the island of Imbros (now Gökçeada, Turkey), son of Christos and Meropi Archodónis. He is of Greek descent. His secular birth name is Dimitrios Arhondonis.

Dimitrios Archontonis attended elementary school in his native Imvros and continued his secondary education in the famous Zographeion Lyceum in Istanbul. Soon afterwards, he studied Theology as an undergraduate at the Patriarchal Theological school or Halki seminary, from which he graduated with highest honours in 1961, and was immediately ordained deacon, receiving the name Bartholomew. Bartholomew fulfilled his military service in the Turkish army as a reserve officer between 1961 and 1963. From 1963 to 1968, Bartholomew pursued his postgraduate studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey in Switzerland and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany. His doctoral research was on the Canon Law. The same year he became a lecturer in the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

After returning to Istanbul in 1968, he took a position at the Patriarchal Theological Seminary of Halki, where he was ordained a priest in 1969, by Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I. When Demetrius I became ecumenical patriarch in 1972 and established the Patriarchal Office, he selected Bartholomew as its director. On Christmas of 1973, Bartholomew became metropolitan of Philadelphia, and was renamed as director of the patriarchal office until his enthronement as Metropolitan of Chalcedon in 1990. From March 1974 until his enthronement as ecumenical patriarch, he was a member of the Holy Synod as well as of many Synodical Committees.

He speaks Modern Greek, Turkish, Italian, German, French and English; he is also fluent in classical Greek and Latin.

Bartholomew I was the target of an assassination plot which was planned to take place on May 29, 2013.[25] One suspect was arrested and there is an ongoing search for two others.[25]

Environmentalism

Further information: Christian views on environmentalism § Orthodox Churches, and Religion and environmentalism

He has also gained a reputation as a prominent environmentalist, putting the support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate behind various international environmental causes. This has earned him the nicknames of "the Green Patriarch" and "the Green Pope",[28][29][30][31] and in 2002 he was honored with the Sophie Prize for his contribution to environmentalism. He has also been honoured with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award which may be bestowed by the Legislative Branch of the United States government.

Turkey

Bartholomew I, after his attempts to celebrate the liturgy in remote areas of Turkey, thereby renewing the Orthodox presence, which was absent since before 1924, has now come under intense pressure from Turkish nationalist elements. The patriarchal Seminary of Halki in the Princes' Islands remains closed since 1971 on government orders.

In an interview published on 19 November 2006 in the daily newspaper Sabah, Bartholomew I addressed the issues of religious freedom and the then upcoming papal trip to Turkey. He also referred to the closing of the Halki seminary by saying: "As Turkish citizens, we pay taxes. We serve in the military. We vote. As citizens we do everything. We want the same rights. But it does not happen... If Muslims want to study theology, there are 24 theology faculties. Where are we going to study?" He also addressed the issue of his ecumenical title and it not being accepted by the Turkish government: "We've had this title since the 6th century... The word ecumenical has no political content. [...] This title is the only thing that I insist on. I will never renounce this title."[32][33]

Ecumenical dialogue

During his trip to Turkey in November 2006, Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Istanbul on the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I. The Pope participated in the feast day services of St. Andrew the First Apostle, the patron saint of the Church of Constantinople. This was the third official visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate by a pope (the first being by Paul VI in 1967, and the second by John Paul II in 1979). He attended the Papal inauguration of Pope Francis on 19 March 2013, paving the way for better Catholic–Orthodox relations. It was the first time that the spiritual head of Eastern Orthodox Christians had attended a papal inauguration since the Great Schism in 1054.[34][35] After, he invited Pope Francis to travel with him to the Holy Land in 2014 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the embrace between Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI. Pope Francis was also invited to the Patriarchate for the feast day of Saint Andrew (30 November).[36]

Support of refugees, reunification and peace

On 16 April 2016 he visited, together with Pope Francis and Archbishop Hieronymus, the Moria Refugee Camp in the island of Lesbos, to call the attention of the world to the refugee issue.[37] In December 2018, he visited the Korean DMZ and prayed for permanent peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula.[38][39]

Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

Main articles: Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism

Bartholomew I with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, 3 November 2018

In October 2018 the synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate agreed to grant autocephaly (independence) to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, to reestablish a stauropegion of the ecumenical patriarch in Kyiv, to revoke the legal binding of the letter of 1686 which led to the Russian Orthodox Church establishing jurisdiction over the Ukrainian Church, and to lift the excommunications which affected clergy and faithful of two then unrecognized Orthodox churches in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP). In response, the Russian Orthodox Church announced it was cutting ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which marked the beginning of the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism.[40]

On 5 January 2019, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew granted autocephaly to the newly founded Orthodox church of Ukraine.[41]

Possession of Vatican St. Peter Bone Fragments

On 2 July 2019, it was announced that Pope Francis had given Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew possession of nine bone fragments believed to belong to St. Peter and which were publicly displayed by Pope Francis in November 2013 during a Vatican 'Year of Faith' Mass.[42] Bartholomew, who also gained possession of the bronze reliquary which they are displayed in,[42] described the Pope's gesture as "brave and bold."[42]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_I_of_Constantinople