A new book on the Ecumenical Patriarch

Recently, a book was published that refers to aspects of the personality and ministry of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of His election and ordination as Metropolitan of Philadelphia.

This Book is a collective work, of academic content, written in English, entitled “Legal Thought and Eastern Orthodox Christianity – The Addresses of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I”. The Grand Ecclesiarch and Director of the Private Patriarchal Office Archimandrite Aetios Nikiforos was in charge of the editing of the book, together with his Professor at the Law School of Cardiff University in Wales, Mr. Norman Doe. The book was published at the internationally renowned Routledge publishing house.

The five Patriarchal texts, which are commented on by distinguished scholars, refer to the following topics: a) Canon Law and Christian Law, b) Religion in a changing Europe, c) Human Rights, d) Religious Freedom and e) The natural environment.

The book is prefaced with great respect for the person of the Ecumenical Patriarch by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou, who mentions – among other things – the following:

“The background of His All-Holiness’ public interventions is his robust and multifaceted legal education, which has Canon Law as its epistemological basis and research focus. At the same time, his thinking expands and deepens into the most current and critical issues of institutions and rights, such as the position of religious freedom in a multicultural and pluralistic Europe, the connection between the values of Orthodoxy and environmental urgency, as well as the response to the climate crisis, and the modern demarcation of the relationship between State and Church in a mutually beneficial way…This book highlights the legal dimension of the creative thought of His All-Holiness and contributes to the promotion of this great personality of our time”.