A high-level delegation from the United States Department of State visited the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Phanar on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
The delegation was led by Riley M. Barnes, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, who was received with special honor by the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Barnes was accompanied by members of his staff as well as the Deputy Consul General of the United States in Constantinople, Michael Kidwell. During the cordial meeting at the Patriarchate, the two sides discussed issues related to the life and ministry of the Mother Church both at its historic seat and throughout the world.
Particular attention was given to the Greek Orthodox community of Constantinople and the Orthodox faithful living in Turkey. The discussion also highlighted the longstanding contribution and ministry of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and its faithful to American society.
Representing the Patriarchate at the meeting were Metropolitan Elder Emmanuel of Chalcedon and the Grand Ecclesiarch Aetios, Director of the Patriarchal Private Office.
Following the meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch, Barnes and his delegation visited the Patriarchal Church of Saint George at the Phanar. There, Grand Archimandrite Iakovos briefed the visitors on the history of the church, as well as on the sacred relics and treasured ecclesiastical heirlooms preserved within it.
