Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew made a video message, which he specially recorded for the French TV channel KTO after watching a new documentary about the ancient Latin Benedictine monastery Amalfion on Mount Athos, which served as a bridge of spiritual unity between the monasticism of the Eastern and Western Churches even after the schism of 1054 for 200 years.
In particular, in his video message, Patriarch Bartholomew said: “This film seems to have taken us back several centuries to the time when the presence of Latin monasticism was possible on Mount Athos. I think today such an initiative would be much more difficult for various reasons. First of all, we can learn a lesson from this film that we can learn to understand the need and opportunity to live together next to our Catholic brothers, to love and respect each other until that great day when God will allow us to meet at the same Chalice.”
Patriarch Bartholomew noted that he had carefully watched the film at the Patriarchal residence in Phanar together with the entire family of the Phanar brotherhood of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He also expressed his gratitude and congratulations to the director and all the staff who worked on the film.
As it has become known, the international film festival Christian Film Festival (CFF), which took place in Virginia (USA) in July 2025, recently awarded this film with the Meilleur Documentaire 2025 award.
As a reminder, the international French TV channel KTO (Télévision Catholique Française) premiered a new documentary about the Latin Benedictine monastery of Athos, Amalfion, which existed on Mount Athos from the tenth to the end of the thirteenth centuries.
This Athos monastery had a Benedictine charter and a Latin rite, and the monks signed all Athos documents in Latin. Once upon a time, spiritual life flourished here and prayer was heard in Latin, but now there are impenetrable forest thickets, and only wild jackals, snakes and bats are inhabiting the place.
‘The fate of this monastery and its brotherhood is a unique and little-known page of the international heritage and history of Holy Mount Athos and the spiritual unity and interconnections of the monasticism of the Eastern and Western Churches. From the archival documents of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, we learn that the Latin monastery of Amalfion continued to exist after the great schism of 1054, serving as a kind of bridge of spiritual unity between the monasticism of the Eastern and Western Churches for more than 200 years afterwards,’ says one of the film’s participants, Director of the International Institute of Athonite Legacy, Dr Serhii Shumylo.
This and many other things are presented in detail in the documentary `Amalfion – Benedictine Monastery on Mount Athos`:
it is available with subtitles in Ukrainian, English, Italian, Russian and other languages. To choose the required language, click on the gear in the upper right corner of the link and select the subtitles in the appropriate language.
The film was created to coincide the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, which symbolises the unity of Christians of the East and West. The film was made with the blessing of Metropolitan Demetrios (Plumis) of Gaul, Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Europe, Chairman of the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops of France.
The film was created by the French television channel KTO-Television in cooperation with the production agency NOMADE PRODUCTIONS FILMS and with the assistance of the International Institute of Athonite Legacy. The film was directed by Oleksiy Vozniuk.
‘I express my sincere gratitude to the international French TV channel KTO (Télévision Catholique Française) and the French production agency NOMADE PRODUCTIONS FILMS, which financed the film. I would also like to thank the Collège de France, which, as part of its long-standing cooperation with our International Institute of Athonite Legacy, provided us with access to its unique microfilmed Athos archives. I also express my sincere gratitude to the film’s director, Oleksiy Vozniuk, and everyone involved in this unique journey and in the filming of the film on Mount Athos,’ Dr Serhii Shumylo commented on the film’s premiere on his Facebook page.
This film is definitely worth watching. It tells the story of the forgotten pages of the history of the Latin monastery on Mount Athos, as well as about modern life and the rich and multifaceted heritage of the Holy Mountain as an international world centre of Christian monasticism.
