On December 1, 2024, the 2025 Pilgrimage of Discovery program will be open for applications. Orthodox Christian young adults of the ages 23 to 30 who have demonstrated leadership qualities in the Church are cordially invited to apply.
The annual Pilgrimage of Discovery program is a seven-day, all-expenses paid, religious and cultural summer journey to the heart of the Orthodox Faith. This transformational program is dedicated to sending Orthodox Christian young adults to Constantinople each year to learn about Orthodoxy, our Ecumenical Patriarchate and the challenges it faces, the history of the Church, the experience of the remaining Orthodox people living in Asia Minor, and other crucially important issues for the Orthodox Christian faithful now and in the future.
This immersive journey enables participants to deepen their Orthodox faith through a curated, guided experience, exploring holy sites, having a private audience with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and much more.
The extraordinary and powerfully rewarding experience of the Pilgrimage of Discovery helps participants enrich and strengthen their connection to their religious tradition, as well as to understand the relevance of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as they prepare to lead the Orthodox Church in the future. The Pilgrimage of Discovery creates a lasting impact on identity, faith, family, community and culture, and helps secure the continuity of the Orthodox Church from a grassroots level.
Application information for the 2025 Pilgrimage of Discovery will be available at the Pilgrimage of Discovery website on Dec. 1, 2024. The site also contains video highlights of the 2024 pilgrimage and further information about the program.
This year, this inspiring religious-educational journey is open to women and men from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America AND other Orthodox Christian ecclesiastical jurisdictions in the United States under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Orthodox Christian young adults from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, as well as the Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America, American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, Vicariate for Palestinian-Jordanian Communities in the USA, and Vicariate for the Communities of Slavic Tradition in the USA are eligible to apply.
The Pilgrimage of Discovery program has been made possible by the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States, an organization committed to Protecting the Future of Faith. The Archons’ primary mission is to promote and defend the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
