Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to receive two Bavarian Ecumenical awards

On Wednesday, 23 April 2025, it was announced that two Roman Catholic institutions in Bavaria have decided to jointly award their annual prizes—for the first time ever—to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, in recognition of his contribution to the Ecumenical Dialogue, that is, the effort to bring Christian Churches closer together.

The institutions honouring the Ecumenical Patriarch are the Catholic Academy of Bavaria and the Benedictine Abbey of Niederaltaich.

The award ceremony will take place on 6 June 2025 at the aforementioned Academy. Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, President of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, will deliver the tribute to the honouree, while Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich, will conclude the official ceremony with a speech of his own.