While staying in Athens, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received several distinguished visitors at his residence. Among them were Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Dodona, President of the Synodal Office of Pilgrimage Tours of the Church of Greece, accompanied by Archimandrite Spyridon Katramados, Secretary of the same Office, as well as Metropolitan Efstathios of Monemvasia and Sparta, along with his assistant, Bishop Theophilos of Lacedaemonia. Additionally, the Mayor of Sparta, Michail Vakalopoulos, and the Rector of the University of the Peloponnese, Athanasios Katsis, were present in anticipation of the upcoming Patriarchal visit to Sparta scheduled for November.
Ecumenical Patriarch also greeted Greek government ministers, including Foreign Affairs Minister Georgios Gerapetritis, National Defense Minister Nikolaos Dendias, Education, Religious Affairs and Sports Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, accompanied by the General Secretary of Religious Affairs Georgios Kalantzis, as well as Labor and Social Security Minister Niki Kerameus, and Minister of State Akis Skertsos. Their meetings, conducted in a positive atmosphere, focused on matters of mutual interest.
In addition, Patriarch Bartholomew welcomed Queen Anna Maria, accompanied by Prince Paul and Princess Alexia. It is noteworthy the long-standing friendship between the Patriarch and the late King Constantine, as well as the profound respect and devotion shown by his family to the Mother Church of Constantinople. During the meeting, the Patriarch extended his congratulations to Queen Anna Maria on the recent marriage of her daughter, Princess Theodora.
On the afternoon of September 30, just before his return to Constantinople, the Ecumenical Patriarch attended a luncheon hosted in his honor by the President and members of the Board of Directors of the Brotherhood of Offikalioi of the Great Church of Christ, known as “Panagia Pammakaristos.”
Photos by Nikos Papachristou / Translated by: Konstantinos Menyktas
