Source: Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
New details have emerged regarding the private meeting between His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and His Holiness Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Monday, May 19, 2025, the day after the inauguration of the new Pope. According to the Zenit News Agency, which reports on the activities of the Pope and the Church of Rome, “This was not merely a handshake between dignitaries. It was a renewed embrace between two ancient churches still walking the long and often fractured road toward unity.”
Zenit added that “for Bartholomew, the longest-serving Ecumenical Patriarch in centuries and a tireless voice for Christian reconciliation, today’s encounter was also deeply personal: a transmission of goodwill and memory from his years of close collaboration with Pope Francis to the new pontificate now beginning.”
The Ecumenical Patriarch, according to Orthodox Times, “personally congratulated the new Pope on his election,” and “emphasized, among other things, the importance of continuing to promote and deepen the theological dialogue between the two Churches—Orthodox and Roman Catholic—as well as their collaboration on matters of social concern, such as the restoration and establishment of peace in the world, support for our suffering fellow human beings, and the protection of the natural environment.”
Pope Leo XIV wholeheartedly agreed, likewise emphasizing the cardinal importance of dialogue between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, and expressing his gratitude to His All-Holiness for traveling to Rome to be present at his inauguration ceremony. He “assured the Patriarch of his strong desire to visit Turkey within the current year, at a time to be determined, in order to jointly commemorate with the Patriarch the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.” This was in response to the invitation from His All-Holiness to make the visit that the Pope’s late predecessor, Pope Francis, had planned to make.
The Ecumenical Patriarch “presented Pope Leo XIV with an icon of the Virgin Mary Hodegetria, specifically painted for the occasion on Mount Athos, incense prepared by Athonite monks, and several of his own books. In return, the Pope offered the Ecumenical Patriarch an artistic depiction of the Baptism of Christ,” which Zenit noted is “a scene both Churches venerate, and which speaks symbolically to their shared sacramental heritage.”
After their private meeting, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Leo went to the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, where the Pope welcomed leaders of Churches and Ecclesial Communities of other Christian traditions. At this gathering, Pope Leo offered his “fraternal affection” to His All-Holiness, as well as to His Beatitude Theophilos III, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, and His Holiness Mar Awa III, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East.
Addressing the hierarchs, Pope Leo echoed the many recent statements from His All-Holiness regarding the importance of this year’s anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council. The Pontiff stated: “My election has taken place during the year of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. That Council represents a milestone in the formulation of the Creed shared by all Churches and Ecclesial Communities. While we are on the journey to re-establishing full communion among all Christians, we recognise that this unity can only be unity in faith. As Bishop of Rome, I consider one of my priorities to be that of seeking the re-establishment of full and visible communion among all those who profess the same faith in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
This was in accord with His All-Holiness’ oft-stated desire for unity among Christians, as he said in June 2023: “How demanding and how common for all of us is the responsibility of the witness of the Christian life in today’s troubled world! But our Christian witness would be far more effective if we Christians were united, according to the Lord’s will, and if we did not scandalize the world with our divisions and rivalries.”
The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate join His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in prayer for unity among all Christians, and for God’s richest blessings upon his meeting in November in Nicaea with Pope Leo XIV. May the mutual desire of both the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Pope of Rome to heal the divisions among Christians bear abundant fruit.