In the context of the first visit of Pope Francis to Turkey, a very important part was the meeting with the Eumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The Patriarch welcomed the Pope, first at the airport in Instanbul, on November 29th. Later, the Ecumenical Patriarch attended the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at the Catholic Cathedral of the “Holy Spirit”.
Also, on the 29th of November, Pope Francis was received at the Phanar by the festive sound of bells. Then he was directed to the patriarchal church of “St. George”, where he was welcomed with a Doxology and exchanged gifts with the Ecumenical Patriarch. Later, the hierarchs had a face to face conversation and then the Ecumenical Patriarch presented the members of the Holy Synod to the Pope.
The next day, November 30th, Pope Francis was welcomed back with great warmth to the Ecumenical Patriarchate to participate in the Divine Liturgy of the Feast of Apostle Andrew, the patron saint of the Church of Constantinople. During the service, the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch exchanged the kiss of peace, as a symbol of reconciliation and love and the “Our Father” prayer was read by Pope Francis in Latin.
After the celebration of the Liturgy, the Ecumenical Patriarch and Pope Francis signed a joint statement which also mentioned the road towards union, although the majority of the statement was dedicated to the tragic situation in the Middle East and the sufferings of Christians there, as well as the necessity of stopping the conflict in Ukraine. An important point in the declaration spoke of the necessity for a fraternal dialogue with Islam.
After the visit and signing of the declaration, the Ecumenical Patriarch accompanied Pope Francis to the Istanbul airport.
