Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the Divine Liturgy on Friday, October 22, 2021, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his election to the Apostolic and Patriarchal Ecumenical Throne.
Elder Metropolitan Emmanouel of Chalcedon, Elder Metropolitan Dimitrios of the Princes’ Islands, Metropolitans Dimitrios of Metres and Athyra, Alexios of Atlanta, Joseph of Proikonissos, Meliton of Philadelphia, Seraphim of Sebastia, Kyrillos of Krini, Joseph of Buenos Aires, Platon of Langadas, Liti and Rentina, Kallinikos of Kastoria, and Bartholomew of Polyana and Kilkis.
“During these thirty years of my humble patriarchal ministry”, the Ecumenical Patriarch said in his speech after the Divine Liturgy, ‘”I tried diligently as a servant of Christ and oikonomos of the mysteries of God’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:1), to do everything possible for the stability of the Church.
For the safeguarding of legacy. For the faithful continuation of the tradition, for the expansion of the Holy and Great Synod, with the conviction that the synodal institution is an expression of a regular ecclesiastical administration in every Orthodox Church. For the preservation and promotion of almost all our sacred sites.
For the promotion and recognition of the new Saints of our days, for the support and consolation of the Christian people, but also for the assurance of all that the Holy Spirit constantly, in every age, works and promotes god-like people and Saints, who adorn, help and support the Christian brothers and the whole Church!
Furthermore, for the strengthening of ties with the brothers in places of the Orthodox Churches, for which we established the Synaxes of the Orthodox Primates upon his ascension to the Throne, and to the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches we did not fail to offer help to overcome their internal problems.”
Previously, the Ecumenical Patriarch was addressed by Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, on behalf of the Hierarchy, and then the following read the messages; Metropolitan George of Guinea, on behalf of Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria, Metropolitan Nifon of Târgoviște, as representative of Patriarch Daniel of Romania, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Kyrenia, as a representative of Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus, and Archbishop Nestor of Ternopil and Kremenets, as a representative of Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, while a warm congratulatory letter was sent by Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and all Albania.
After the Divine Liturgy, the Ecumenical Patriarch received the wishes of a large group from the Russian community of Constantinople and then he received the cordial wishes of the representatives of the Mayor of Constantinople in the Hearing Hall of the Patriarchal House.
Immediately afterwards, he received in a private meeting the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, Andreas Katsaniotis.