“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,
“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.
“My entire journey has been a life in dialogue,
“Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew once again thanked the Archbishop of Albania for his presence and participation throughout the celebrations held on Imbros
“the order according to which every newly elected Orthodox primate, upon taking the helm of his Church, begins visiting the other Orthodox Churches, naturally starting with the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
“Constantinople “diminished itself and itself granted them ecclesiastical independence, known as autocephaly – it weakened itself in order to serve each Orthodox people.”
“The Church of Russia emerged in the 16th century, while the Churches of the Balkans emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries. And all of them, before their autocephaly was proclaimed, were part of the jurisdiction of our Ecumenical Patriarchate
“his Church had “diminished itself” by granting autocephaly, only to receive a “cup of ingratitude” in return
“saw no one but Jesus alone
“to teach the word of God
“until my last breath
“We cannot journey toward God while turning our backs on our fellow human beings.
“The Ecumenical Patriarchate has never been a spectator of the course of human affairs
“My entire journey has been a ‘life in dialogue,’
“supreme gift of the priesthood
“Jesus only