On Wednesday, September 17, 2025, as his Apostolic Visit to the United States continued, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visited Saint Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in Falls Church, Virginia, where he received an enthusiastic welcome from the faithful, who braved clouds and a consistent drizzle to greet the spiritual leader of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians.
Welcoming His All-Holiness to the parish were children dressed in traditional Greek clothing, who held flowers and waved flags of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as the Ecumenical Patriarch arrived. This was the Ecumenical Patriarch’s first visit to Saint Katherine Church.
Accompanying His All-Holiness to the church were His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America; the Hierarchs and other members of the Patriarchal delegation; numerous other Hierarchs and clergy; the Spiritual Advisor of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Rev. Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne Alexander Karloutsos; Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; the Hon. B. Theodore Bozonelis, National Vice Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and numerous other Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
At the conclusion of the Welcome Doxology, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America welcomed the Ecumenical Patriarch and the faithful on behalf of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. His Eminence expressed the hope that Greek Orthodox Christians in the United States, as “devoted and dedicated children of the Mother Church of Constantinople,” would demonstrate for His All-Holiness their determination to fulfill their “Orthodox Christian vocation to live according to Christ.”
