Ecumenical Patriarch marks 65 years since ordination: My entire journey has been ‘a life in dialogue’

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I marked the 65th anniversary of his ordination to the diaconate on Thursday, 13 August, on his native island of Imbros (Gökçeada). “My entire journey has been a life in dialogue,” His All-Holiness stressed. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by the Ecumenical Patriarch together with His Beatitude Theodore II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, and His Beatitude John, Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Panagia (Gökçeada), Turkey. Also taking part in the service were Metropolitans Emmanuel of Chalcedon, Meliton of Philadelphia, and Chrysostomos of Myra of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; Metropolitan George of Guinea of the Patriarchate of Alexandria; and Archimandrite Bartholomew, Abbot of the Athonite Esphigmenou Monastery. Among those in attendance were Metropolitan Kyrillos of Imbros and Tenedos; Roman Catholic Archbishop Massimiliano Palinuro of Constantinople; Monk Tarasios Koutloumousianos, representative of the Holy Community of Mount Athos; Athonite monks; representatives of the authorities; and numerous faithful and fellow islanders of the Ecumenical Patriarch. In the service of the entire Christian community The Ecumenical Patriarch read a word of thanks on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of his ordination as a deacon. Photo credit: Ecumenical Patriarchate / Nikos Papachristou Before the dismissal, Patriarch Bartholomew celebrated a Trisagion service for the late Metropolitan Meliton, his spiritual father, who ordained him a deacon in the same cathedral and gave him the name Bartholomew on 13 August 1961. Recalling the moment 65 years ago, the Ecumenical Patriarch expressed his gratitude to those attending the anniversary and recalled one of the exhortations he had received from Metropolitan Meliton at his ordination. “The words Jesus alone were inscribed forever upon my soul and have served as a compass throughout my life. My spiritual father earnestly urged me, as I became a cleric, to look only to Jesus.” “I thank the most gracious God for the supreme gift of the priesthood: eight years as a deacon, four as a priest, 18 as a metropolitan and 35 as Ecumenical Patriarch, in the service of the entire Christian community under the dominion of the Lord, of the Great Church, of inter-Orthodox cooperation, inter-Christian and interreligious dialogues, peace and solidarity, the protection of the natural environment and the encounter between the Church and the contemporary world,” His All-Holiness stressed. ‘Not to be served, but to serve’ Archbishop John of Albania addressed a congratulatory message to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. Photo credit: Ecumenical Patriarchate / Nikos Papachristou His Beatitude John, Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, highlighted the significance of the place where the Ecumenical Patriarch began his clerical ministry. “Here you received the first degree of Holy Orders. Not to be served, but to serve; not to seek human glory, but to shepherd the spiritual flock of Christ’s Church.” “Today, after 65 years, we are not simply praising a man. We glorify and give thanks to God, because time has revealed the wisdom of His Providence and confirmed the calling,” the Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania said. His Beatitude also recalled the support provided by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Church of Albania following the period of atheist persecution: “When it emerged from the long night of atheist persecution, deprived of its visible structures and with its human resources almost exhausted, the Mother Church of Constantinople did not leave it alone.” In this context, Archbishop John also recalled the ministry of the late Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, whom the Ecumenical Patriarchate sent to Albania as Patriarchal Exarch. ‘You willingly emptied yourself for the Church’ Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria read a congratulatory message to the Ecumenical Patriarch on Wednesday evening. Photo credit: Ecumenical Patriarchate / Nikos Papachristou His Beatitude Theodore II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, on Wednesday evening recalled the personality of Metropolitan Meliton of Chalcedon and the exhortations he had given Patriarch Bartholomew: “You willingly emptied yourself for the Church, renouncing every personal interest and devoting yourself entirely to the service of Christ and His flock.” His Beatitude also highlighted the historic ties between the two Patriarchates, which “have journeyed together since the earliest centuries of Christianity”. “Shared have been the struggles to defend Orthodox doctrine, shared the cup of affliction in difficult times, and shared the witness to the Resurrection to the ends of the earth.” “The Church of Alexandria sincerely, wholeheartedly and with one mind supports the inter-Orthodox and interreligious initiatives of Your All-Holiness,” the Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa said. Gifts and gratitude The Patriarch of Alexandria presented Patriarch Bartholomew with a silver plate depicting the Holy Trinity. Photo credit: Ecumenical Patriarchate / Nikos Papachristou At the conclusion of the celebrations, the Patriarch of Alexandria presented the Ecumenical Patriarch with a silver platter depicting the Holy Trinity, while Patriarch Bartholomew, on behalf of the Metropolitan of Imbros and Tenedos, presented each of the two Primates with an episcopal staff. The anniversary celebrations had begun the previous evening, when the Ecumenical Patriarch attended Great Vespers for the leave-taking of the feast of the Transfiguration and the Paraklesis to the Mother of God at Saint George Church in his native village. In June, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I celebrated his name day together with Patriarch Daniel of Romania and Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria. The Patriarch of Romania sent a message on that occasion describing His All-Holiness as “the most influential figure in the contemporary Orthodox world”. Photo: Ecumenical Patriarchate / Nikos Papachristou