“The unity and charity of Christ can only be beneficial,” the patriarch said in response to the best wishes expressed on behalf of the Sacred Synod by Metropolitan Perghis Evanghelos, one of the greatest intellectuals trained at the great School of Theology in Halki. In his remarks the latter said that thanks Bartholomew’s selfless work the “ecumenical role of the Patriarchal See has been honoured again.”

“Our first duty, the first duty of the head of the ecumenical patriarchate, is the unity of all Orthodox Christians,” Bartholomew said. “And we shall never tire labouring day and night to achieve this unity with our whole synod.”

“We want to assure everyone that the unity and charity in Christ can only be beneficial,” he added. “And although we are continually working for unity we should not forget that our Holy Mother the Church in Christ represents unity in and of itself, unity in Christ.”

“If the unity of the world has not yet been realised this is only due to men’s resistance to God’s love, to our Lord who gave us everything to realise men’s unity and salvation.”

“You are certainly aware of the troubled, uphill path, one that is full of thorns, that our Ecumenical Patriarchate has had to face. We are however convinced that following in the footprints of Our Lord on the way to the Cross we shall see our resurrection as well as that of the great Holy Mother Church of Christ. We do not feel alone on this journey towards the Cross. We feel the presence and support of all our predecessors, those great Fathers of the Church, and all the Saints of the land of Cappadocia.”

Bartholomew went on to say that “for his love in Christ we are drawn to the martyrdom of Patriarch Gregory V,” who was hanged in 1821 in retaliation for the Greek War of Independence. Significantly, however tragic this reference may be it underscores how there was time when non-Muslim minorities enjoyed some degree of tolerance under Ottoman rule.

Finally the patriarch noted that in our age “when there is a certain longing for the Orthodox tradition and its message of faith, we are called through the responsibility embodied in the Ecumenical patriarchate to show that Our Lord is the linchpin of our thoughts and visions.”

“Let us try to show this in various ways, not only in relation to the Orthodox world but also all the other sister Churches and international organisations. Let us do so with the laborious apostolic model as our point of reference so that the real face of Our Lord can be known to all, including those who ignore him, without bias of race, language or national origin.” (NT)