A delegation of the Synodal Office of Pilgrimage Tours of the Church of Greece visited the Ecumenical Patriarch
In recent days, an informative meeting was held between Archimandrite Spyridon Katramados, Secretary, and Mr. Theodoros Pittaras, Member of the Management Committee of the Synod Office of Pilgrimage Tours of the Church of Greece, and His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, at the Phanar.
During the meeting, the Secretary, Archimandrite Spyridon Katramados, along with His Eminence Metropolitan Athenagoras of Ilio, Acharna and Petroupolis, and Mr.Theodoros Pittaras, Member of the Management Committee of the Synod Office of Pilgrimage Tours of the Church of Greece, and His Eminence Metropolitan Joachim of Bursa from the Church of the First Throne of Constantinople, informed His All-Holiness extensively about the general pastoral actions and activities of the Synodal Office of Pilgrimage Tours of the Church of Greece, making special mention of the four Orthodox Conferences that have been held from time to time (2009, 2016, 2018, 2019) in Greece, and the implementation of both the proposals and the conclusions that have been proposed by these conferences as the fruit of all the works.
Afterwards, His Eminence Metropolitan Joachim, informed His All-Holiness also about the previous meeting, held on the same day, with the above-mentioned guests at the Patriarchal Offices, but also for the substantive proposals submitted by both parties regarding the initiation of joint actions within the new Ecclesiastical Year 2023-2024 of the Mother Church and the Church of Greece.
They listened to the advice and enlightened thoughts of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who approved all the work accomplished by the Church of Greece under the responsibility of his friend Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Dodoni, President, and applauded the fruitful cooperation by giving relevant directions of the ways and methods of implementing a series of joint actions, referring specifically to a pilgrimage tour of sites in Greece and Turkey associated with Saint Paul Apostle to the Nations, pointing out that school-aged youth are not knowledgeable of even very basic historical things.
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew offered as a blessing to Fr. Spyridon Katramados some printed material with the title “IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAINT PAUL” from a previous event of the Holy Archdiocese of America, an Academic Symposium which took place in 2009, with the wish and blessing that there would be cooperation so that something similar could be repeated in the Church in Greece.
Finally, following the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Secretary Archimandrite Spyridon Katramados and Mr. Theodoros Pittaras, Member of the Administrative Committee of the Synodal Office, were hosted at the Patriarchal dinning room for lunch and returned the next day to Athens.
