Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew departed for his native island of Imbros on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 11, 2026, accompanied by Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa and Archbishop Ioannis of Tirana and All Albania, together with their respective entourages.
The visit comes ahead of celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s entry into the sacred clergy. The anniversary will be commemorated on Thursday, August 13, with a concelebrated Divine Liturgy presided over by the three Primates on Imbros.
The anniversary recalls Patriarch Bartholomew’s graduation from the Theological School of Halki and his ordination to the diaconate in 1961, marking 65 years of ecclesiastical ministry.
Accompanying the three Church leaders are Metropolitan Emmanuel, Elder of Chalcedon, representing the Hierarchy of the Ecumenical Throne; Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia, who is himself a native of Imbros; and clergy of the Patriarchal Court.
Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Myra and Metropolitan Kyrillos of Imbros and Tenedos, the shepherd of the local Church, will also participate in the celebrations on the island.
Archon Exarch of the Great Church of Christ Athanasios Martinos will attend as a representative of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, accompanied by his wife, Marina Martinou.
The celebrations on August 13 are expected to carry particular symbolic significance, as the Ecumenical Patriarch marks this milestone in his ecclesiastical ministry in his birthplace, in the presence of the Primates of two other Orthodox Churches.
