“Personally, having you as my supporters, I have nothing to fear,” stated the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, commenting on the statement issued by the Brotherhood of the Archons of the Ecumenical Throne.
In their statement, the Archons condemned as “unseemly attacks,” “insults,” and “falsehoods” the allegations made against Patriarch Bartholomew in an announcement by the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation.
The Brotherhood of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate “Panagia Pammakaristos,” during its annual dinner, read aloud its joint communiqué before Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and distinguished guests. The statement emphasized that the announcement by the Russian service “targets the Ecumenical Patriarch, placing at risk—through the extremely serious characterizations used—even his personal safety.”
They also called upon all Orthodox Christian Churches and Denominations, as well as ecumenical organizations, to “denounce these tactics, the dissemination of false news, and the slander against the Ecumenical Patriarch by political or ecclesiastical centers which, through their words and conduct, demonstrate that they recognize neither what is sacred nor what is holy.”
The statement further notes: “We honor the doctrinal and canonical tradition of the Church, which is vigilantly safeguarded by the Ecumenical Throne of Constantinople.”
Quoting the words, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do,” Athanasios Martinos, President of the Brotherhood of the Archons of the Patriarchate, said while welcoming Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, characterizing the attacks directed against him as “inappropriate.”
Venizelos: The Ecumenical Patriarchate expresses an Orthodoxy of peace and reconciliation
In his keynote address, Professor of International Law and former Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos referred to the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in bearing witness to the world and to its historical course amid contemporary international challenges.
“You have the weighty privilege of being supporters of the Ecumenical Throne, the Mother of the Churches, to which autocephaly was granted by the First-Throne Patriarchate, the Holy Great Church of Christ,” Venizelos stated.
He added: “Autocephaly is one thing—this Orthodox, transcendent understanding that each nation-state may have its own national Church—and ethnophyletism is another. For Orthodoxy, therefore, the first and enduring geopolitical challenge is the distinction between autocephaly and ethnophyletism. That is why it is of great importance to emphasize that the voice of the Patriarchate expresses an Orthodoxy of peace and reconciliation, an Orthodoxy of human rights and ecological sensitivity, and clearly not an Orthodoxy of war, hegemonic ambition, authoritarianism, and totalitarianism.”
Venizelos went on to speak of the transcendent, yet at the same time decisive, role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and of its moral and spiritual radiance in the contemporary world.
“Orthodox Christians constitute only 4% of the world’s population and merely 12% of the global Christian population. And yet, in the world today, the Phanar—humble, minority, and besieged—stands at the same time as something radiant, emitting the light that comes from the East to the entire West. For the Ecumenical Patriarchate, of which you are Archons and supporters, bears a weighty primacy, carried by the Ecumenical Patriarch as the first among Orthodox bishops,” he noted, among other remarks, adding:
“Without the Ecumenical Patriarchate, without the Eastern Christian expression, the Western one cannot be constituted either. Therefore, the East as we know it is an inseparable and fundamental constitutive element of the West as a whole.”
“The Orthodox faith remains a source of inspiration and creativity in every aspect of social life,” stated the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Earlier, the Ecumenical Patriarch delivered an address on the role of the Archons, recalling that during the early days of his Patriarchate he himself took initiatives for the establishment of the institution through the founding of the Brotherhood “Panagia Pammakaristos.”
He underlined that for thirty-five years the Archons have stood as steadfast supporters of the institution, “just as your predecessors in Byzantine times offered invaluable services and, following the Fall [of Constantinople], became irreplaceable supporters of the multifaceted work of the Great Church and willing contributors to the preservation of the sacred and holy heritage of our Nation.”
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew also referred to the outward-looking initiatives he undertook in the first years of his patriarchal ministry, when he began opening the Ecumenical Patriarchate not only to the wider world, but also to Turkish society, emphasizing that the life of the Greek Orthodox community in Constantinople is inextricably linked to the life and mission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
“We informed Turkish public opinion about the identity and mission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In earlier years we were a very closed institution; there was fear and hesitation,” the Patriarch noted, adding that he now observes respect on the part of the President of the Republic of Turkey toward the institution. “He invites me to all annual receptions at the Presidential Palace, and we meet on various occasions at social events,” he said.
“Our Ecumenical Patriarchate never considered isolation and inwardness to be a consistent expression of the Church’s tradition and ethos,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stressed, pointing out that wherever such attitudes prevailed, they produced negative consequences both for society and for the Church.
He continued: “Never has our Church been indifferent to the challenges of each era—its achievements and its failures, its contradictions and its progress. Even today, Orthodox faith remains a source of inspiration and creativity in every aspect of social life. The Church is called in every age to articulate its philanthropic witness, to proclaim the Christian vision of the human person, to remind political and economic authorities of their moral and social responsibility, and to affirm that nothing justifies an affront to human dignity. We can live in the world without destroying it—peacefully.”
Earlier in the afternoon, the Ecumenical Patriarch visited an exhibition organized by the Philoptochos Brotherhood of Thessaloniki, dedicated to the early years of its activity. He was guided through the exhibits by its President, Georgios Konstantinidis, viewing archival material and historical photographs highlighting the Brotherhood’s longstanding contribution to social welfare, education, healthcare, parishes, missionary work, and national causes.
The Ecumenical Patriarch was accompanied by Metropolitan Philotheos of Thessaloniki, Metropolitan Barnabas of Neapolis and Stavroupolis, and Metropolitan Ioustinos of Kalamaria and Nea Krini, hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne, as well as Deputy Minister of Interior (Macedonia–Thrace) Kostas Gioulekas, Deputy Minister of Development Stavros Kalafatis, Deputy Minister of Education Nikolaos Papaioannou, Mayor of Thessaloniki Stelios Angeloudis, Members of Parliament Dimitris Kouvelas and Petros Pappas, the Coordinator of the Prime Minister’s Office in Thessaloniki Giannis Papageorgiou, the Civil Governor of Mount Athos Alkiviadis Stefanis, Athonite fathers, and others.
