Patriarch Bartholomew attends mass marking Pope Leo’s election anniversary

Patriarch Bartholomew and Apostolic Vicar of Istanbul Massimiliano Palinuro. Photo: Orthodoxia News Agency

On May 9, 2026, Patriarch Bartholomew attended a Catholic Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul marking the first anniversary of the election of Pope Leo XIV, Orthodoxia News Agency reports.

The Patriarch attended the service at the invitation of the Vatican nuncio to Turkey, Archbishop Marek Solczyński. He was joined at the Mass by Metropolitans Emmanuel of Chalcedon, Kyrillos of Krini, and Joachim of Bursa.

In his address, Bartholomew described the dialogue between Constantinople and Rome as an “irreversible path” that began back in 1964.

According to him, the historic milestones laid down by his predecessors have formed “a living awareness of a shared calling and a shared destiny.” The Patriarch expressed his conviction that the Nicene Creed today serves as “a living bond of communion” between the two confessions.

He also proclaimed the pursuit of Christian unity through the “transformation of the world.” The Patriarch stressed that the voice of the current pope had become for many “a moral compass in a fragmented world.”

Concluding his remarks, Patriarch Bartholomew expressed the hope that “the light of the Resurrection” would continue to guide the Roman pontiff’s ministry as “a sign of hope for all humanity.”

The UOJ earlier reported that the Patriarchate of Constantinople had held an ecumenical prayer service in Istanbul.

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