Announcement from the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate convened on Sunday afternoon, 1 December 2024, under the presidency of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and began its work with announcements on current issues in the life of the Mother Church.

As noted in the relevant announcement, “during this session, a letter was considered from His Eminence Archbishop Leo of Helsinki and All Finland, stating that after his resignation, the Clergy-Laity Assembly of the Autonomous Church of Finland, which met in the Holy Monastery of Valamo, resulted in two candidates for his succession. Having been formed according to the order of the Tripartite, the Holy and Sacred Synod unanimously elected His Eminence Metropolitan Elia of Oulu, as the new Archbishop of Helsinki and All Finland.

After the election, the services of the Small and Great Messages were performed and the new Archbishop received the congratulations and wishes of His All-Holiness and the holy synodal participants for a blessed hierarchal ministry in the Church he leads.

Photographs: Nikos Papachristou