Catechetical Homily at the Opening of Holy and Great Lent (2024) His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Most honorable brother Hierarchs and blessed children in the Lord,

The grace of our God of love has once again vouchsafed for us to enter the soul-benefiting period of the Lenten Triodion and arrive at Holy and Great Lent, namely to the arena of ascetic struggle replete with gifts from above and the joy of the Cross and Resurrection. During this blessed period, the spiritual treasure and dynamism of the ecclesiastical life as well as the soteriological reference of all its expressions are revealed with clarity.

March 18, 2024

Patriarchal Encyclical for Christmas (2023)

With the grace of God, we are once again this year celebrating in chant, hymn, and spiritual song the Nativity according to the flesh of the pre-eternal Son and Word of God, namely the manifestation of the mystery of God and humankind. According to St. Nicholas Cabasilas, what occurs in the Divine Liturgy is “the mystagogy of the Lord’s incarnation,” while its introductory acclamation “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” is evidence “that it is through the Lord’s incarnation that people first learned that God is three persons.”[1] The same saintly Father proclaims that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was the first and only to demonstrate the authentic and perfect human being, concerning His ethos, life, and everything else.”[2]

December 19, 2023

Patriarchal Message on the Falling Asleep in the Lord of George Psaros

Dear children in Christ Jesus, the falling asleep in the Lord of your father, husband, and grandfather, George, is a time when the precious bonds of family and friendship take on even more profound meaning. The passing of your familial patriarch is a time of sadness and loss, but also a time of reflection and gratitude. In this time of remembrance, you will share many stories and moments from times gone by will suddenly come before your minds. As your spiritual father and friend, we counsel you to open wide the gates of memory and allow the story of George’s extraordinary life to come upon you, accepting the tears of your grief as cleansing your hearts

June 16, 2023

Patriarchal Encyclical for Holy Pascha 2023

Having arrived with God’s grace at the all-saving Resurrection of the Lord, through which the power of death was abolished and the gates of paradise were opened to the entire human race, we address to all of you our paschal greetings and heartfelt wishes, as we proclaim the cry “Christ is Risen” that gives joy to the world.

April 12, 2023

Catechetical Homily of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew At the Opening of Holy and Great

Most honorable brother Hierarchs and blessed children in the Lord, By the goodwill and grace of the all-merciful and all-benevolent God, already living in the blessed and reverent period of the Triodion, tomorrow we enter Holy and Great Lent, the arena of fasting and “venerable abstinence” that eliminate the passions, during which the depth and wealth of our Orthodox Tradition and the vigilant care of the Church for the spiritual progress of its children are revealed. Read More

February 24, 2023

PATRIARCHAL ENCYCLICAL FOR CHRISTMAS - 2022

Most honorable brother hierarchs, Beloved children in the Lord, Today our Holy Church celebrates the Nativity in the flesh of the pre-eternal Son and Word of God, this “foreign and strange mystery” that “was concealed from ages and from generations” (Col. 1:26). Read More

December 25, 2022

The 11th Academic Consultation Between Judaism And Orthodox Christianity

The 11th Academic Consultation between Judaism and Orthodox Christianity took place December 4-6, 2022, in Vienna, Austria. The theme was “Jewish-Orthodox Christian Dialogue: Navigating Our Relations to the World and to Each Other.” The Consultation was co-sponsored by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC). Read More

December 9, 2022

New Saint Canonized in Constantinople

A new saint has been recognized by the Orthodox Church. In a Wednesday August 31, 2022 ceremony at the Patriarchal Church of St. George Read More

September 1, 2022

Patriarchal Encyclical for the Feast of the Indiction 2022

Most reverend brother Hierarchs and beloved children in the Lord, As we enter, with God’s blessing, the new ecclesiastical year today, we honor with the Feast of the Indiction the “Day of protecting the natural environment” and offer glory and gratitude to the Creator of all for the “great gift of creation.” Read More

August 30, 2022

Halki Summit V Underway in Constantinople

Yesterday, June 8, marked the start of the fifth Halki Summit conference in Constantinople. This year’s theme is “Sustaining the Future of the Planet Together: the Prophetic Ministry of Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew,” and is sponsored in part by generous grants from Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the CR Florence Foundation. Read More

June 9, 2022

Patriarchal Encyclical for Holy Pascha 2022

Having run the race of ascetic struggles during Holy and Great Lent and experienced with compunction the venerable Passion of the Lord, we are now filled with the eternal light of His splendid Resurrection, wherefore we praise and glorify His transcendent name, exclaiming the joyfully message to the whole world: “Christ is Risen!” Read More

April 20, 2022

Patriarchal Catechetical Homily at the Opening of Holy and Great Lent

The veneration of the Cross in the middle of Holy and Great Lent reveals the meaning of this whole period. The word of our Lord echoes strikingly: “Whoever desires to follow me … let them lift their cross each day and follow me” (Lk 9.23). We are called to lift our own cross, following the Lord and beholding His life-giving Cross, with the awareness that the Lord is the one that saves and not the lifting of our cross. Read More

March 4, 2022

The Ecumenical Patriarch Condemns the Unprovoked Russian Invasion of Ukraine and Expresses His solidarity to the Suffering Ukrainian People

Shocked by the invasion of the armed forces of the Russian Federation in the territory of Ukraine this morning, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew telephoned His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphanios, Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, expressing his deep sorrow at this blatant violation of any notion of international law and legality, as well as his support to the Ukrainian people struggling “for God and country” and to the families of innocent victims. Read More

February 24, 2022

Letter of protest from the Ecumenical Patriarch to the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey for the sacrilege of Soumela Monastery

His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a letter of protest to His Excellency Mr. Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Turkish Republic, regarding the sacrilege of the Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of Panaghia Soumela of Trabzon... Read More

February 8, 2022

Patriarchal Encyclical for Christmas

Having once again arrived at the splendid feast of the Nativity in the flesh of our Savior Christ, who visited us from the heights, we glorify with psalms and hymns His all-heavenly name. The Incarnation of the pre-eternal Word of God is “the crowning of our salvation,” the “eternal mystery” of divine-human communion that transcends all reason. As St. Maximus the Confessor says so eloquently, “as a loving God, He truly became human assuming the essence of humankind, although the manner in which He became human will always remain ineffable; He became human in a manner that transcends humanity.” [1] Read More

December 21, 2021

Announcement of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

It is announced that the scheduled visit of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the United States of America will take place from October 23 to November 3, within the framework of health and safety measures due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Read More

September 16, 2021

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Signs Joint Environmental Statement with Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby of Canterbury

For the first time, the leaders of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Communion have jointly warned of the urgency of environmental sustainability, its impact on poverty, and the importance of global cooperation. Read More

September 7, 2021

Indiction and Synaxis at the Ecumenical Patriarchate

On September 1, 2021, Heirarchs from around the world gathered at the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the Divine Liturgy celebrating the Indiction and the Ecclesiastical New Year as well as the Synaxis of the Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne. Read More

September 2, 2021

Encyclical of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for the Feast of Indiction and First Day of the Ecclesiastical Year and the Day of Environmental Protection, 2021

The Feast of the Indiction, the solemn day of prayers for the natural environment, finds once again humanity confronted with intense weather conditions due to mounting climate change, with devastating floods and fires across the globe, as well as with the Coronavirus pandemic and its socioeconomic consequences. Read More

August 30, 2021