The traditional ceremony of the Dies academicus of the Institute of Postgraduate Studies in Orthodox Theology took place on Thursday 17 October 2019 at the Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy (Geneva). After the service of the blessing of the waters and the reading of the message of His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, addresses were delivered by the Metropolitan Maxime of Switzerland, Director of the Orthodox Center, Archbishop Job of Telmessos, Rector of the Institute, Prof. Franz Mali, Vice-Rector of the University of Fribourg, and Prof. Christophe Chalamet, Vice-Dean of the autonomous Faculty of Protestant Theology of the University of Geneva. Then came the distribution of the diplomas of Master of Arts in Theological Studies (Specialization: Orthodoxy and Inter-Christian Studies) from the University of Fribourg and of the pittacia of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the four graduates of this year: Mr. Lazaros Kalaitzidis (Church of Greece), Deacon Evgenios Karakonstantakis (Ecumenical Patriarchate), Mr. Christos Xiros (Church of Greece) and Mr. Georgios Zacharioudakis (Ecumenical Patriarchate). On behalf of all the students, Deacon Evgenios Karakonstantakis delivered a speech of thanks. The ceremony, which was attended by members of the diplomatic corps, religious institutions in Geneva and many guests, ended with the singing of the polychronion in honor of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, followed by a cocktail in the reception room of the Orthodox Center of Chambésy.

A consultation took place in Durres, Albania on 3-7 October 2019, bringing together Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox women involved in the work of the World Council of Churches since the 10th WCC Assembly in Busan (Korea) in 2013. The Orthodox women participating in the Consultation were members of the WCC governing bodies, commissioners or advisors within WCC programmes, resource persons and WCC female staff. They shared their ecumenical experiences and discussed the Orthodox women’s agenda towards the 11th WCC Assembly to be held in Karlsruhe (Germany) in 2021.

Participants attended the Sunday Divine Liturgy at the Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral of Tirana and had an official hearing from His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania. Anastasios discussed extensively with them the role of contemporary women in the Church by sharing insights from the liturgical life in the Orthodox Church of Albania where women have very active roles. Continue reading →

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited Prague on 15 October 2019, where he addressed the 23rd annual conference of “Forum 2000” Foundation under the title “Recovering the Promise of 1989”. The Forum 2000 Foundation pursues the legacy of Václav Havel by supporting the values of democracy and respect for human rights, assisting the development of civil society, and encouraging religious, cultural and ethnic tolerance. It provides a platform for global leaders, as well as thinkers and courageous individuals from every field of endeavor, to openly debate and share these critical issues.

The Forum 2000 conferences and other events organized by the Forum 2000 Foundation are held in Prague, Czech Republic. Since 1997, Forum 2000 organizes an annual conference which has attracted a number of prominent thought leaders, Nobel laureates, former and acting politicians, business leaders and other individuals, whose common denominative is experience with bearing responsibility. Prince Hassan bin Talal, Yohei Sasakawa, Frederik Willem de Klerk, Bill Clinton, Oscar Arias Sánchez, the Dalai Lama, Henry Kissinger, Shimon Peres, Mario Soares, Hana Suchocká, Shirin Ebadi, Sergey Kovalyov, Nicholas Winton, Madeleine Albright, and Wole Soyinka are just a few of those who have attended the Forum 2000 events.

During his visit, His All-Holiness met with His Grace Bishop Isaia of Sumperk from the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.

An extraordinary meeting of the Holy Synod of the Hierarchy of the Orthodox Church of Greece met on 12 October 2019 and decided to approve “the normal right of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to confer autocephaly, as well as the privilege of the Primate of the Church of Greece to further deal with the question of the recognition of the Church of Ukraine.”

According to the agenda, His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece presented his Report entitled “The autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine”. In the introduction of his report, His Beatitude stated that the Standing Holy Synod of the Church of Greece has dealt intensively with this subject, having referred it to the relevant Synodical Commission, on Dogmatic and Legal Issues and on Orthodox and Inter-Christian Relations, in order to jointly propose them to the Holy Synod. Continue reading →

The Churches’ Week of Action on Food 2019 is taking place on 13-20 October 2019. The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance invites churches around the world again to a Churches’ Week of Action on Food, an opportunity to pray, reflect and take action together, for food justice across the globe.

“The Churches’ Week of Action on Food is a week-long global campaign initiated by the WCC through which we invite the global ecumenical movement and organisations, community-based organisations and faith-based organisations to act collectively for food justice,” explains Manoj Kurian, coordinator of the WCC Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance and Food for Life Campaign. Continue reading →

The Annual Conference of Secretaries of World Christian Communions took place in Christiansfeld (Denmark) on 8-10 October 2019 hosted by the Moravian Church Worldwide Unity Board.The annual Conference of Secretaries of World Christian Communions brings together representatives from diverse Christian traditions to discuss their work and fellowship together.

Secretaries heard reports from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity of the Roman Catholic Church, World Council of Churches, Baptist World Alliance, Global Pentecostalism, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council, International Old Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Mennonite World Conference, Moravian Church Worldwide Unity Board, Organization of African Independent Churches, Global Christian Forum, World Convention of the Churches of Christ, World Evangelical Alliance, World Methodist Council, Lutheran World Federation, Anglican Communion, The Salvation Army, Friends World Committee for Consultation, Armenian Apostolic Church, and the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists. Continue reading →

The First Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the 18th Plenary Session of the International Joint Commission on the Theological Dialogue between the Lutheran World Federation and the Orthodox Church was held in Tirana, Albania, from the 24th of September to the 1st of October 2019. The Meeting was hosted by the Orthodox Chuch in Albania with the generous hospitality of H.B. Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, and took place at the Skete of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women, next to St. Vlash Monastery/ Orthodox Theological Academy.
The Meeting, Co-chaired by H.E. Metropolitan Prof. Dr. Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate) from the Orthodox side, and by Bishop Dr. Johann Schneider (Evangelical Church in Central Germany/EKMD) from the Lutheran World Federation side, discussed the theme of “The Place and the Role of the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church”. Continue reading →

In the frame of his pastoral visit to Sweden, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited the Saint Ephrem Cathedral of the Syrian-Aramean Church in the district of Södertälje on 29 September 2019, where he was received by Mor Dioscoros Benyamin Atas (Patriarchal-Vicar of Sweden), Mor Philoxenus Yusuf Cetin (Archbishop and Patriarchal-Vicar of Istanbul and Ankara), priests and a large number of Syrian Orthodox faithful. The Ecumenical Patriarch delivered a homily, prayed and paid respect for the Syriac Martyrs of Sayfo. A reception followed in his honor.

There are approximately 150,000 Assyrians in Sweden. With the majority of them being believers of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, their patriarch appointed the first priest in Södertälje in 1971.

During his pastoral visit to Sweden on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Holy Metropolis of Sweden and All Scandinavia, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited the Lutheran Church of Sweden and addressed the Church of Sweden General Synod, where he was the guest of honor, on 1 October 2019. On that occasion, he  has awarded the Plaque of St Erik by Church of Sweden Archbishop Dr Antje Jackelén for his commitment to religious freedom, human rights and care for creation.

The citation reads: “His All Holiness, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome & Ecumenical Patriarch. For his efforts to promote religious freedom and human rights, for calling the attention of the world to the needs of refugees and for across the globe showing that care for creation is an ecumenical and spiritual responsibility.” Continue reading →

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a Message to the Secretary-General of the United Nations His Excellency António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, on the occasion of the United Nations International Summit on Climate Action that took place in New York on 23 September 2019, in which he urged all the leaders of the international community to step up their ambition and accelerate progress “toward meeting the decarbonization targets of the Paris Agreement, as well as to begin looking beyond to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s indisputable imperative for net zero emissions as soon as possible.” Also, the Ecumenical Patriarch, known for his initiatives to raise the awareness of the world community about the need to protect the natural environment as part of Creation, in his Message encourages “the world’s economically developed countries to provide the necessary financial support to developing countries in order to facilitate a socially equitable and efficient transition to an environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly course of development. While investment models can be successful, charitable giving must not be overlooked.”

In his Message, the Green Patriarch recalls that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the first Encyclical issued by the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the protection of the environment and since then 1 September of each year has been dedicated as the World Day of Prayer for the protection of Creation. Here is his message: Continue reading →