On the afternoon of Friday, January 17, 2020, the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, visited the seat of Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Ambassador Sam Brownback, who had earlier visited the Holy Trinity Monastery, which is the seat of the historic Halki seminary, and the Ecumenical Patriarch discussed issues related to the ministry of the Mother Church, both locally and internationally, the Greek diaspora, and the status of Christians in Turkey.
The Ecumenical Patriarch, in turn, referred to his visit to the USA in May and his planned meeting with US President Donald Trump.
The US Consul General in Constantinople, Daria Darnell, together with the associates of the ambassador and the Consulate General, attended the meeting. On the part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Metropolitan Maximos of Selyvria, Patriarchal Deacon Iakovos and Konstantinos Delikonstantis, Archon Didaskalos tou Genous (Teacher of the Nation) and Director of the First Patriarchal Office, were present.