Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew meets with the Prime Minister of Greece
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met with the Prime Minister of Greece, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on Thursday, 8 May 2025, at the Maximos Mansion.
“I bring you the wishes and blessings of the Mother Church and the greetings of the brother Hierarchs from the Phanar,” His All-Holiness said during his reception by Prime Minister Mitsotakis and added: “For me and my entourage, it is a special joy to be back in Greece, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the church that you gave us and that we now have in the centre of Athens. And on this occasion, to see your beloved face again, your associates, to exchange thoughts on common issues and to return strengthened to our headquarters.”
In response, the Prime Minister of Greece said the following:
“Your All-Holiness, it is your visit that always gives us strength, encouragement and courage to continue on the difficult path of the overall adjustment of our homeland. I want to welcome you again to the Maximos Mansion, interpreting, I believe, the feelings of all Greek women and men in your person, but also in the very important work that you are carrying out. Indeed, you come for a very pleasant moment, to which you referred, but each of your visits are an opportunity for us to be able to discuss the broader developments that concern our region. Issues on which I know that you have both an opinion and the courage to express an opinion, which I think is appreciated overall. So again, with much love, and on behalf of my wife, I welcome you to Athens.”
His All-Holiness then offered the Prime Minister a signed photograph that he and Ms. Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis took recently at the Vatican.
In their private meeting, which took place in a cordial atmosphere, issues of mutual interest were discussed.
During his visit to the Prime Minister of Greece, His All-Holiness was accompanied by Their Eminences, Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, and Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea, Director of the Representative Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Athens, and the Grand Ecclesiarch Archimandrite Aetios, Director of the Personal Patriarchal Office.
Photographs: Nikos Papachristou
