Ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης σε λειτουργία για την επέτειο εκλογής του Πάπα Λέοντος ΙΔ΄

Η Α.Θ. Παναγιότης ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης κ.κ. Βαρθολομαίος, το απόγευμα του Σαββάτου, 9 Μαΐου 2026, μετά την επιστροφή του από την Ελλάδα, μετέβη στον ΡΚαθολικό Ναό του Αγίου Πνεύματος στο Harbiye, όπου παρέστη στη Θεία Λειτουργία που τελέστηκε για την πρώτη επέτειο από την εκλογή της Α.Α. του Πάπα Λέοντος ΙΔ΄, κατά την οποία μίλησε επικαίρως στην αγγλική, κατόπιν παρακλήσεως του Νουντσίου του Βατικανού στην Τουρκία Σεβ. Αρχιεπισκόπου κ. Marek Solczynski.

Με τον Παναγιώτατο παρακολούθησαν την λειτουργία και οι Σεβ. Μητροπολίτες Γέρων Χαλκηδόνος κ. Εμμανουήλ, Κρήνης κ. Κύριλλος, και Προύσης κ. Ιωακείμ, καθώς και ο Ιερολ. Πατριαρχικός Διάκονος κ. Φώτιος Πουλόπουλος. 

Διαβάστε την ομιλία του  Παναγιωτάτου ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΩΣ.

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Φωτό: Νίκος Παπαχρήστου

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Homily, Holy Mass “Pro Pontifice”, May 9, 2026

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Your Excellency, dear Archbishop Marek Solczynski, Apostolic Nuncio,

Yours Eminences and Excellencies,

Reverend Fathers,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Christ is Risen!

During this paschal season, we greet you with this ancient and ever-new proclamation of joy in the Risen Lord. Although this year we were not all blessed to celebrate the “Feast of Feasts” together in its fullness, we are nevertheless gathered once more in spirit and in faith, and we proclaim with the Apostle Paul: “Now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since through a man came death, also through a man came the resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:20–21).

It is a particular joy today to join the Roman Catholic community in Istanbul in marking the first anniversary of the election of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, our dear brother in Christ. We can hardly believe how swiftly time has passed since the repose in the Lord of Pope Francis, for whom we continue to pray. May his memory be eternal!

Looking back over this past year, we can only give thanks to God for the deepening rapprochement that continues to inspire our two Sister Churches of Rome and Constantinople. This irreversible path, which began in 1964 with the prophetic encounter between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, has profoundly shaped the journey of reconciliation on which we continue to walk with hope, trust, and perseverance in God. The many milestones set by our predecessors along this path of charity and truth have formed a living consciousness of shared vocation and common destiny, which continues to sustain and inspire our dialogue today.

In such a special way, we reflect this evening on the recent apostolic visit of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to Türkiye. As we know, this visit was marked by a profound double commemoration: the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, and the patronal feast of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, celebrating the memory of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. This raises a fundamental question for our ecumenical pilgrimage: what does such a moment signify for the journey we share?

We speak intentionally of a “pilgrimage,” for it is by pilgrimage that our relationship was renewed in Jerusalem; it is by pilgrimage that we went together to İznik—ancient Nicaea—to proclaim the faith of the Church with “one voice and one heart.”

This joint commemoration stands as a moment of profound ecclesial and spiritual significance for the relationship between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. By returning together to the very wellspring of their shared faith—the confession of the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father—we bear witness to a unity that, though wounded in history, has never been entirely lost. This act of common remembrance is not a mere gesture of historical piety, but a deeply theological affirmation that the Creed of Nicaea remains a living bond of communion, calling both Churches to rediscover one another in the truth they already share.

In this sense, Nicaea is not only a memory, but a horizon: a point of spiritual orientation from which the path toward the restoration of full communion can be discerned anew. As the Gospel reminds us, Christ himself prayed “that they may all be one; as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us” (John 17:21). In echoing this prayer at Nicaea, together with the many Christian leaders who joined this solemn occasion, we offered a renewed prophetic sign to the world: that reconciliation is not an abstract ideal, but a living vocation entrusted to the Churches, so that their unity may become a credible witness to the truth and love revealed in Christ.

Allow us to repeat what we declared together: “The goal of Christian unity includes the objective of contributing in a fundamental and life-giving manner to peace among all peoples. Together we fervently raise our voices in invoking God’s gift of peace upon our world. Tragically, in many regions of our world, conflict and violence continue to destroy the lives of so many. We appeal to those who have civil and political responsibilities to do everything possible to ensure that the tragedy of war ceases immediately, and we ask all people of good will to support our entreaty.”

The pursuit of Christian unity is therefore not inward-looking, but profoundly outward-facing: it is a mission for the life of the world. It is a concrete and necessary contribution to reconciliation among peoples, to the healing of divisions, and to the cessation of violence. In a time when war and conflict continue to wound the human family, this shared appeal resounds as both a moral and spiritual summons—to leaders, to communities, and to all people of goodwill—to labor tirelessly so that the tragedy of war may cease.

The more the Churches draw closer to one another in truth and love, the more credible and effective their witness for peace becomes. Thus, unity is not only an ecclesial hope, but a path toward the transfiguration of the world, where peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the fruit of communion, justice, and the grace of God at work in human hearts.

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

On this day, as we celebrate the first anniversary of the election of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, we continue to pray for our dear brother in Christ. His voice has become for many a moral compass in a fractured world, grounded in the truth of Christ’s teaching. May the light shining from the empty tomb continue to illumine our path and remain a sign of hope for all humanity. We pray that the Lord grant Pope Leo many years in good health, strengthened by his grace, so that his ministry may continue to grow and to inspire many.

Christ is Risen!