Today, Tuesday, May 25, 2021, the President of Poland, His Excellency Mr. Andrzej Duda, visited the holy see of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and was received with great honor.
In the entrance hall of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, His Excellency the President, who was accompanied by the First Lady, Mrs. Agata Kornhauser-Duda, as well as by Ministers and other senior officials of his country, were welcomed by the Very Rev. Chancellor Theodoros, accompanied by the Rev. Archimandrite Gregorios, Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod, and the clergy of the Patriarchal Court. Afterwards, Mr. Duda, his wife, and the members of his delegation worshiped at the Patriarchal Church, where they were informed by the Rev. Ecclesiarch Aetios, Director of the Special Patriarchal Office, about its history, as well as about the holy relics and artifacts kept in it. Special mention was made of the holy relics of Saints John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian, which were returned to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2004 by Pope John Paul II, who was of Polish descent, and who before his election in 1978 served for fifteen years as Archbishop of Krakow, the city in which His Excellency the President was born.
Afterwards, the Very Rev. Chancellor Theodoros accompanied the President to the Eugenides Palace, where in the Audience Chamber he was received and welcomed, according to protocol, by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who expressed his pleasure at the visit of the President of Poland, whom he had officially visited a few years ago in Warsaw.
During their subsequent cordial meeting, His Eminence Metropolitan Geron Emmanuel of Chalcedon was present, along with the Very Rev. Chancellor Theodoros and Archimandrite Gregorios, Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod, as well as Mrs. Kornhauser-Duda and the Polish delegation.
His All-Holiness and the President discussed the ministry, initiatives and actions of the Ecumenical Throne, Orthodoxy in the world, and also the course of inter-Christian dialogue. His All-Holiness referred to the important contribution of the Polish Orthodox Church, which was granted the status of Autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1924, and recalled with emotion his visit to Warsaw in 2015, when, at the invitation of His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, he laid the cornerstone of the majestic Hagia Sophia Church, which recalls the long and indestructible ties of the daughter Church of Poland with the Mother Church of Constantinople. They also had the opportunity to discuss issues of wider interest, such as the initiatives of the Ecumenical Throne to raise global public awareness of the need to preserve the Creation and protect the natural environment, as well as the importance of Christian values and traditions in shaping of modern societies.
Afterwards, the President and the First Lady of Poland signed the Guestbook of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, where, in their inscription, they pointed out, among other things, the importance of interfaith dialogue, especially in the modern world, for unity and the promotion of peace. They also proudly stated that the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Poland is an active community in their country that participates in the life of the society and lives by the principles and values that testify to the universality of Christianity.
The Ecumenical Patriarch said goodbye to the President of Poland in the entrance hall of the Ecumenical Patriarchate upon his departure from the Phanar, and thanked him for his honorable visit to the Center of Orthodoxy.