Pat Bartholomew again invites Pat Theophilos to Nicaea jubilee celebrations

Patriarch Bartholomew at the Metochion of the Holy Sepulchre in Neochori on the Bosphorus. Photo: ec-patr

On October 22, 2025, during the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint George in Istanbul – the Representation of the Holy Sepulchre – Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople once again invited Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem to take part in the celebrations marking the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council, which will be held on November 28 in Nicaea, the official website of the Ecumenical Patriarchate reports.

The service was dedicated to the patronal feast of the Jerusalem Patriarchate – the commemoration of Saint James the Apostle, the first Bishop of Jerusalem. In his address to Archbishop Nektarios of Anthidona, representative of the Holy Sepulchre in Constantinople, Patriarch Bartholomew recalled the “longstanding support” that, in his words, the Church of Constantinople has offered to the Church of Jerusalem.

“Our present prayerful communion,” said Bartholomew, “is yet another link in the chain of fraternal relations between our Churches. We remain ready to bear witness to our love and support for the sister Church of Jerusalem.”

Taking the opportunity, the Patriarch of Constantinople reaffirmed his earlier written invitation to Patriarch Theophilos to attend the anniversary celebrations in Nicaea. Also invited to the commemoration of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council are Pope Leo XIV, Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria, and Patriarch John of Antioch.

Patriarch Bartholomew stressed that the event will be “a tangible manifestation of the unity of Eastern and Western Christianity” – a meeting of the four Eastern Patriarchs with the Patriarch of the West. “We cannot imagine the absence of the successor of the Apostle James,” he noted, expressing hope for a positive response from the Jerusalem Primate.

It should be noted that this month Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem held meetings with Metropolitan Anthony (Sevryuk) of the Moscow Patriarchate and with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, indicating the continuation of active dialogue both on the ecclesiastical and diplomatic levels.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Turkey continues to deny the ecumenical status of the Church of Constantinople.

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