Today, Friday, November 19, 2021, Her Excellency Karen Donfried, a senior US State Department official in charge of European and Eurasian Affairs, visited the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Phanar, and was received with great honor.
Her Excellency Ms. Karen Donfried, who was accompanied by the US Ambassador to Ankara, His Excellency Mr. David Satterfield, the Consul General in Istanbul, the Honorable Ms. Daria Darnell, and other diplomats, was received by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and had the opportunity to discuss, in a cordial atmosphere, issues related to the life and ministry of the Mother Church, in its Headquarters and around the world, for the Omogeneia in the city and for the Orthodox faithful in the country. His All-Holiness also referred to his recent visit to the United States, expressing his satisfaction with the warm welcome and meetings he had there.
The meeting was attended, on behalf of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, by His Eminence the Geron Metropolitan of Chalcedon, Emmanuel, the holy Protosyggelos (Chancellor) Theodoros, and the Syggellos Iakovos.
Earlier, in the gateway of the Patriarchate, the Protosyggellos Theodoros, accompanied by clergymen of the Patriarchal Court, welcomed Her Excellency Ms. Karen Donfried. Immediately after her meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch, they accompanied her to the all-holy Patriarchal Church, where the Syggelos Iakovos informed her of its history, as well as of the sacred relics and artifacts kept in it.