Homilies, Statements, and Lectures
RSSSins Against Nature and God: We Are All Accountable for Ignoring the Global Consequences of Environmental Exploitation
Once again, in a matter only of a few years, the eyes of the world are turned with suspense toward the Gulf Coast. Sadly, the oil spill is following a path similar to Hurricane Katrina and threatening the coast of Louisiana as well as neighboring states. Learn More »
Catechetical Homily On the Commencement of Holy and Great Lent
Beloved brothers and sisters, children in the Lord, Tomorrow, we enter the period of Holy and Great Lent. In the Lenten vespers of Forgiveness chanted this evening, we shall hear the sacred hymnographer urging us to "begin the time of fasting with joy, submitting ourselves to spiritual struggle" in preparing to welcome the great Passion and joyful Resurrection of our divine-human Lord. Learn More »
At the Patriarchal Chorostasia of the Doxology on the Occasion of the 18th Anniversary of His Enthronement as Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch
This evening we are brought together by the Holy Spirit in great joy and supreme love, as we celebrate with the community of Saints Constantine and Helen Church here in Annapolis, along with many faithful of the God-saved Metropolis of New Jersey. It is with profound humility and paternal love that we share with you this day as the observance of the eighteenth anniversary of our enthronement as the successor of the First-Called Apostle Saint Andrew as Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch. Learn More »
At the Luncheon in Honor of His All Holiness Hosted by His Excellency Vassilis Kaskarelis, Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to the United States of America
Here at the Embassy of the Hellenic Republic, we are reminded of the living universal and transformative ideals of Hellenism, with which the Orthodox Christian Faith shares the entirety of its two thousand year history. Among these universal ideals are the formative concepts of democracy, human rights, and the transcendent nature of the human person. Long before the world spoke of a “philosophia perennis” the Ancient Hellenes were mapping out the metaphysical and natural world across a broad philosophical landscape that is unmatched for its originality, precision, truthfulness, and humanity to this very day. Learn More »
At the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy and Archon Investiture
The New Testament readings that we heard this morning provide us with a unique image – not only of the faithful in general within the Church – but also of the relationship that you enjoy as members of the Order of St. Andrew with the Apostolic See of Constantinople founded by the First-Called Apostle Andrew. What we have before us is an icon of the bond that we share, of the affiliation with which you are invested as Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Learn More »
Remarks of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch BARTHOLOMEW at the Concert for Peacemakers
We greet you with all love and every paternal blessing in the Lord on this most joyous occasion. We are honored indeed by this event, this concert in Tribute to Peacemakers, celebrating both our current mission of environmental stewardship, as well as the foregoing decade of peacemaking ministry of our beloved brother Archbishop Demetrios of America. How we have enjoyed this evening! The virtuosity of all the musicians who perform under the direction of Maestro Tiboris, soloists, and the choir of our beloved youth. We pray that God, who gave all of you such tremendous musical skills, will bless you in the offering of these talents throughout all your lives. Learn More »
At the Dinner In Honor of His All Holiness at World of Coca Cola hosted by Muhtar Kent
Tonight we have gathered at this remarkable center, in truth, a museum to one of the most beloved products and, if we might use the word, ‘icons,’ of the twentieth century. We have been brought together by a dear and trusted friend, Mr. Muhtar Kent, who presides over this remarkable company with more than one million employees in two hundred countries as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Learn More »
At the Patriarchal Chorostasia of the Service for Ecumenical Peacemakers
It is, we emphasize, no coincidence that we meet in this place and at this hour, on the evening when the Orthodox Christian Church begins its commemoration of the Holy Apostle Cleopas. Saint Cleopas was one of the Apostles of the Seventy commissioned by Christ (Luke 10:1, 17). He was also one of the two disciples that the Lord met on the road to Emmaus after the Resurrection (Luke 24:18). The experience of Saint Cleopas has great meaning for our encounter today. Learn More »
Greeting of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch BARTHOLOMEW to the Metropolis of Atlanta
The tremendous growth of the Metropolis over the past decade; with new communities being founded, and a burgeoning populace of Orthodox faithful, testify to the providential care of His Eminence Alexios and to his co-workers here at the Metropolis Headquarters under the guidance and inspiration of His Eminence Demetrios, our Exarch in the U.S.A.. Learn More »
Homily of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Patriarchal Chorostasia of the Great Vespers for St. Demetrios the Myrrh-Streamer
Beloved, the power of a prayer is not to be measured by its length. The most powerful prayer may also be the most brief. Few but fervent were the words of Saint Nestor: “God of Demetrios, help me.” Yet through the power of these simple words, evil was vanquished, tyranny was frustrated, faith was vindicated, and not one, but two saints for the Kingdom of God were revealed. Learn More »
Message to the new General Secretary of the World Council of Churches
We take this opportunity to wholeheartedly congratulate you upon learning of your election as the 7th General Secretary of the World Council of Churches. As you respond to this calling from God, please be assured of our incessant prayers to our Lord God for your strength, wisdom and success as you now lead the journey towards unity of the World Council of Churches. Learn More »
Welcome Message at the Second Orthodox Youth Conference
t is with great joy that we welcome the 2nd Conference on Orthodox Youth, under the theme “Members of the Church – Citizens of the World”, which is organized by the Ecumenical Throne, from July 11 to 16 2007, here in this ancient and historic City, which will be the Cultural Capital of Europe in the year 2010 and where Christianity has been vibrant for two thousand years and has survived in spite of all difficulties, challenges and divisions. This Conference should also be considered as a pilgrimage to this City where the Apostle Andrew preached the Holy Gospel, where he performed many miracles, and where thousands of martyrs and confessors witnessed to their faith. Learn More »
Toast during the Formal Luncheon in Honor of His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill of Moscow
We have not received you here today – at the martyric, albeit always bright Phanar, whose very “foundation” involves “the care of all Churches” – as a stranger or even as an especially beloved friend, but literally as bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh”! For we do not regard you as an outsider but as a genuine Brother, as a healthy cell and noble member of our own Body, a child – even as we are – of this fertile and rich Mother, the Holy, Apostolic and Ecumenical Great Church of Christ in Constantinople. Learn More »
Homily By His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during the Concelebration of the Divine Liturgy with His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All-Russia in the Patriarchal Church of St. George
t is with great joy, deep love and much honor that we welcome you today to the court of that Church, from which the unwaning light of the holy and blameless Orthodox faith was conveyed to the noble and blessed Russian people, whom we behold at this moment in the precious person of Your Beatitude. We greet and embrace you wholeheartedly, praying that the Lord may bless your people with His grace, establishing them in “the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) and increasing the seed of the Gospel that they received from here. Learn More »
Foreword to the Published Proceedings of the Fourth Summer Seminar at Halki
One of the more fundamental problems, which constitute the basis of the ecological crisis, is the lack of justice prevailing in our world. By justice we mean not only the legal correspondence of giving and receiving, of transgressions and consequences, of offering and reward, but the more inclusive virtue that lies beyond the narrow fulfillment of obligation. The liturgical and patristic tradition of the Church considers as just, that person who is compassionate and freely grants, using love as one’s sole criterion. Justice extends even beyond one’s fellow human being to the entire creation. The burning of forests, the criminal exploitation of natural resources, the gap between the wealthy “north” and the needy “south,” all these constitute expressions of transgressing the virtue of justice. Learn More »
Greeting to the Participants of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Southeastern Europe
It is truly a joy to welcome your esteemed and venerable gathering to Istanbul, formerly the Royal City of Constantinople, being the See of New Rome and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, sister of the Church of the Elder Rome. We welcome you here as family, honoring first of all the close relations between our two Churches, but also recognizing the importance of brother hierarchs assembling and meeting together in meditation, reflection and consultation. Learn More »
Catechetical Homily for Holy and Great Lent 2009
The fast proposed to us by our Holy Church is not any deprivation, but a charisma. And the repentance to which it calls us is not any punishment, but a divine gift. When the Church urges us, through the words of Scripture, not to store up for ourselves treasures on earth "where most and rust consume" but instead to store up treasures in heaven, where there is no danger of corruption, it is telling us the truth. Learn More »
Message of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the National Young Adult League Conference in Washington, DC.
It is with sincere joy that we convey to all participants of the National YAL Conference being held in Washington, D.C. from July 10-13, 2008, on the critical theme “Doers of the Word” our Patriarchal and Paternal greeting. Learn More »
Homily at the 60th Anniversary of the World Council of Churches, Saint Pierre Cathedral, Geneva
Paul was exasperated by the internal quarrels and divisions in the church at Corinth, which he had founded some years earlier. So, in this first letter sent to the members of that young fellowship, he made the appeal that we have just heard. The Apostle to the Gentiles took that step, because he realized that in an environment dominated by a pagan culture – as was that Greek city, where several schools of thought flourished – the Christian faith, that he had revealed to them, would run the risk of being reduced to human philosophical wisdom, if each of them claimed to belong to such or such a master, and not to the Master, Jesus Christ. Learn More »
Greeting to the Delegation of the Church of Rome at the Thronal Feast of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
It is with particular joy that we welcome you today at the historical Center of Orthodoxy, on the occasion of our celebration of the joyous feast of the Ecumenical Throne. Your presence here both strengthens and seals the bonds of love and trust between our Churches, bonds which have been cultivated in recent decades and which have been especially established by the visit here last year of His Holiness, our most beloved Brother in Christ Pope Benedict XVI of Rome and his fervent participation in the Thronal Feast of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Learn More »
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60 Minutes: His All Holiness on Orthodox Christianity
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The Holy Theological School of Halki
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Latest News
World Council of Churches honors Day for Creation
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
In a message honouring the Day for Creation, 1 September, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I has expressed his hope that the financial and economic crisis experienced by many societies would bring about "a powerful change in direction, to a path of viable and sustainable environmental development." Read more...
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