His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has spoken, with illuminating wisdom and deep gratitude to God, on several occasions recently about the Ecumenical Patriarchate and its pivotal role in God’s Holy Church.
When His Holiness Leo XIV became Pope of Rome in May 2025, one of the Greek Orthodox dignitaries who were present remarked upon the splendor of the Vatican, saying that its magnificence gave him a joyful feeling, “as it reminds me of our little alley in the Phanar.” His All-Holiness responded: “I bring you all the blessing of the Mother Church—our Patriarchate—which, by the grace of God, stands firm and unwavering in its centuries-old post…. We follow the ways of Christ, the humble and simple God-man. We are not moved, nor do we envy or covet the grandeur of the Vatican or other centers and cities. I experienced them in Rome during my three years of postgraduate study there, but never did I feel any inferiority complex.”
The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew added: “We are grateful to God for who we are, for what we have, and together we shall continue along the path of our traditions and the ideals of our race and our nation.”
When referring to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, although it lacks earthly grandeur, “who we are” and “what we have” are exceedingly great indeed. His All-Holiness has stated that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate remains attuned to the tumultuous waves of history, adept at documenting humanity’s endeavors throughout various historical epochs and effectively addressing them.”
In every age of human history, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has addressed human beings in every particularity of their changing circumstances, and reminded them of the eternal truths of the Holy Orthodox Faith. As a result, His All-Holiness noted that “the Church is the beacon of spiritual culture and precious values, which constitute our identity.” He explained that “it is impossible to understand our identity without reference to Orthodoxy and its history; nor can we imagine our future without the decisive presence of its tradition and without the preservation of its values. If we are cut off from our spiritual roots, we will not survive.”
And so in articulating what those spiritual roots are and sacrificially protecting them, the Ecumenical Patriarchate “has imprinted its mark upon civilization and, by the grace of the omniscient God, the Most Holy Theotokos, and all the Saints, it will persist in bearing witness to the grace bestowed upon us and the hope that resides within us, even in the times to come.”
This witness, as the Ecumenical Patriarch explained on another occasion, is part of the Lord’s provision for His Holy Church. “The Lord, having ascended into heaven,” said His All-Holiness, “did not leave the world orphaned. He Himself is and will always be among us ‘until the end of time,’ and He sent the Holy Spirit to remain in His Church and to guide it into all truth.”
Making particular reference to the long-suffering Greek Orthodox community of Constantinople, the Ecumenical Patriarch said that with the “certainty that we are not alone, but that the One who ascended from us in glory to heaven remains with us always, we continue the struggle of our lives as Greek Orthodox Christians of Constantinople, with courage, with love for all, with hope for a better tomorrow, with gratitude to God for all that He has given us, even for the possible sorrows and tribulations of life.”
Echoing Saint Paul’s statement that “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18), His All-Holiness has emphasized that the those sorrows and tribulations must be regarded in light of the Holy Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “In our Tradition,” said the Ecumenical Patriarch, “Pascha is not the only ‘chosen and sacred day.’ The entire life of the Church is Pascha. Resurrection is ‘the glory of the Church’ and ‘the treasury of the Kingdom.’ The Resurrection is the entire faith, ethos and culture of Orthodoxy. Every Divine Liturgy is Pascha. Resurrection is every humble chapel, every sacred temple. The Saints and Martyrs of the faith, the sacred icons that we venerate, as well as every act of love and charity: all of these exude the fragrance of the Resurrection. The lives of our faithful are a daily Pascha. We know the meaning of the Resurrection because we know the meaning of the Cross. We are the Church of the Cross and the Resurrection. We have experience from the Cross and the taste of the Resurrection, which is why we resoundingly proclaim: “Behold, through the Cross, joy has entered the whole world.”
The many crosses that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has carried and still carried, and that the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate offer their time, talent and treasure to help shoulder, are but the prelude to the glorious resurrection. We give heartfelt thanks to Almighty God for His inexpressible gift of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and for the historic thirty-four-year global ministry of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
