New York - His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will welcome Pope Francis to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople on November 29 and 30, 2014.  Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew extended the invitation to the Pope during His Holiness’ inaugural Mass in March 2013.

Pope Francis is scheduled to attend a Doxology at 4:00 p.m. (UTC/GMT + 2 hours) on November 29, on the eve of the Feast of St. Andrew, after which he will meet privately with the Ecumenical Patriarch. The following morning, Nov. 30 at   9:30 a.m. (UTC/GMT + 2 hours) Pope Francis will attend the Divine Liturgy in honor of the Feast day of St. Andrew. Following the Divine Liturgy, the two spiritual leaders will sign a Common Declaration.

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios has been invited to attend this historic occasion. He will be accompanied by a large number of Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, distinguished faithful from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the Archdiocesan Byzantine Choir.

This visit follows a tradition established by Pope Francis’ predecessors, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, to visit the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the Thronal Feast of St. Andrew, the first-called of the Apostles and founder of the Church of Constantinople.

Both church services will be broadcast by the Vatican’s live broadcast services and through the official Vatican website at  http://en.radiovaticana.va/live-rv.  Fr. John Chryssavgis will oversee the Press Office for the Ecumenical Patriarchate while Fr. Chris Metropulos will serve as one of six language commentators to analyze the live worldwide broadcast from the Vatican.

For more information please visit www.patriarchate.org