Fourth Mass held at Sümela Monastery

The Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew celebrated Mass at Sümela Monastery in the Black Sea province of Trabzon on Aug. 15.

“We are thankful to our government for its sensitiveness on the freedom of faith,” said Bartholomew during the Mass, which was the fourth such Mass held in the historical Sümela Monastery.

Orthodox Easter Resurrection: The Gift of Liberation and Call to Compassion

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew*

While many Christians celebrated Easter over a month ago as a result of differing calendar calculations, Orthodox Easter takes place much later this year, falling on May 5. Thus, at midnight on Saturday, May 4, the night that our fourth-century predecessor on the Throne of Constantinople, St. Gregory Nazianzus, described as "brighter than any sunlit day," some 300 million Orthodox Christians will swarm churches to hear the words: "Come, receive the light!"

Patriarch Bartholomew to lead Orthodox Easter celebration on Gökçeada

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I is going to lead the Orthodox celebrations of Easter on May 5, for the first time on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros), where the patriarch was born and raised.

“As you know, there will be a Greek school opened there in September and Patriarch Bartholomew is quite happy with it, so he will be there for the religious celebration,” said Dositheos Anagnostopulos, spokesperson for the İstanbul-based Greek Orthodox Patriarchate headed by Bartholomew, spiritual leader of about 300 million Orthodox Christians around the world.

Pope inaugurates his reign with Mass attended by Patriarch Bartholomew

Pope Francis inaugurated his papacy with a Mass in front of hundreds of thousands of people including foreign leaders in St. Peter's Square on Tuesday, a crowd which also included İstanbul-based Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ.

Patriarch Bartholomew Praises Gulen’s Dialog Efforts

Bartholomew (Photo: EPA)

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune’s columnist John Kass, Patriarch Bartholomew praised Fethullah Gülen’s dialogue efforts.