On the morning of Sunday, January 19, 2025, Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and All Scandinavia responded to the invitation of the Lutheran Bishop of the Swedish city of Västerås, Mikael Mogren, to attend the ordinations of a deacon and two priests, and to participate in the discussion that followed, dedicated to the Ecumenical Week 2025, which will take place from August 20 to 24, 2025, in Stockholm, with the participation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Metropolitan congratulated the Bishop and the newly ordained, conveyed the paternal blessings of Patriarch Bartholomew and offered them an icon and his book on the Patriarchal Visit to Stockholm in 2019.
He also invited Bishop Mikael to attend the Divine Liturgy at the St. George Cathedral of Stockholm, which will be presided over by the Ecumenical Patriarch, on Sunday, August 24.
He then answered the questions submitted by the organizers of the panel discussion, briefly stating the following: Inter-Christian Dialogue is the duty of all of us. It is not a matter of luxury or choice, but an expression of an inner necessity, in order to get to know our brothers and sisters of other denominations, to understand them and to share with them our own beliefs, giving emphasis and priority to what brings us closer together and not to what divides us.
He reminded the listeners of Christ’s teaching on unity within the Church, as characteristically stated in the Gospel of John (17:21-24) and the Letter to the Ephesians (4:4), where unity according to God is sought, “making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the syndesmos of peace,” as well as the Kontakion of the Feast of Pentecost, where the hymnographer chants: “when he divided the tongues of fire, he called all to unity.”
The Metropolitan also read the following excerpts from speeches by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: “I learned from a tender age to breathe the air of the world, to recognize the breath of theological dialogue and to embrace the world of ecclesiastical reconciliation. ….. For us in the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the term ecumenical is more than a name: it is a worldview and a way of life.”
“In the Orthodox icon of the Hospitality of Abraham, the three guests sit on three sides of the table and are facing each other, as they converse, leaving the fourth side free. The icon serves as an open invitation to each of us. Will we sit at the table with these strangers? Will we give up our prejudices and arrogance, so as to take our place at the table, for the sake of the survival of our world and a peaceful future?”
“Our prayers at the Divine Liturgy “for the peace of the whole world, the stability of Holy Churches of God and the unity of all…..”, with direct reflections, not only in the ecclesiastical, religious sphere, but also in global political affairs, remind us of our mission as apostles of love, peace, reconciliation, solidarity and ecological and social justice.”
“We no longer have the luxury of individual action. ….. The unity, about which we talk a lot, is already being realized in some areas, unfortunately, through martyrdom.”
In conclusion, the Metropolitan said that this year’s Easter concelebration and the concelebration of 1700 years since the convening and formation of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea give us the opportunity to work on the long-awaited issue of unity.
On the afternoon of the same day, the Exarch of the Ecumenical Throne in the Northern Lands returned to the See of his Eparchy, in Stockholm.
