Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I Celebrates Fifteen Years Of Sacred Reconstruction, Inter-Faith Dialogue, And Anti-Globalist Environmentalism

"Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (Greek: Βαρθολομαίος Α' ) (born Demetrios Archontonis Δημήτριος Αρχοντώνης) on February 29, 1940) has been the Patriarch of Constantinople, and thus "first among equals" in the Eastern Orthodox Communion, since November 2, 1991.

He was born on Imbros (Imvros to its Greek inhabitants), an island in the Aegean Sea belonging to Turkey. By citizenship he is Turkish, but belongs ethnically to the small remnants of the Greek community in Turkey (see Istanbul Pogrom). He speaks Greek, Turkish, Latin, French, English, Italian, and German.

As Ecumenical Patriarch, he has been particularly active internationally. One of his first focuses has been on rebuilding the once-persecuted Eastern Orthodox Churches of the former Eastern Bloc following the fall of Communism there in 1990. As part of this effort he has worked to strengthen ties amongst the various national Churches and Patriarchates of the Eastern Orthodox Communion. He has also continued the reconciliation dialogues with the Roman Catholic Church started by his predecessors, and initiated dialogues with other faiths, including other Christian, Muslim, and Jewish sects [sic].

Perhaps most unusually, he has gained a reputation as a prominent environmentalist, putting the support of the Patriarchate behind various international environmental causes. This has earned him the nicknames "the Green Patriarch" and "the Green Pope" and in 2002 he was honored with the Sophie Prize [a $100,000 international environment and development prize awarded anually]."

Source: Wikipedia article


























Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I

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