The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew pays a three-day official visit to the Republic of Lithuania from Monday, March 20, 2023, at the invitation of the Prime Minister of the country, Ingrida Šimonytė.
The Ecumenical Patriarch arrived on Monday afternoon at the Vilnius Capital International Airport, where, on behalf of the Government, the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Egidijus Meilūnas, welcomed him together with officials.
He was also welcomed by Gregory Karachalios, Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to the country, and Mehmet Apak, Deputy Head of the Diplomatic Mission of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey.
During his stay, the Ecumenical Patriarch will have private meetings with the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, Prime Minister Šimonytė, President of Parliament Viktorija Čmilytė-Nilsen, Government officials, and other high-ranking officials, as well as with Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vilnius Gintaras Grušas, President of the PK Episcopal Assemblies of Europe.
He will also lay a wreath at the Monument to the Fallen in the Struggle for Lithuanian Independence, attend and speak at the opening of an international conference organized by the European People’s Party, and meet with Orthodox priests and representatives of the Greek, Ukrainian and Belarusian Orthodox Communities.
The Ecumenical Patriarch is accompanied by the Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon and Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria, Grand Ecclesiarch Aetios, Director of the Private Patriarchal Office, and Secondary Alexandros, and Nikolaos-Georgios Papachristou, Director of the Press and Communication Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Photo: Nikos Papachristou / Ecumenical Patriarchate
