Groups of Roman Catholic Hierarchs, Clergy and Laity from Italy and Austria visit the Phanar
On Tuesday of Bright week, 22 April 2025, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, received groups of Roman Catholic Hierarchs, clergy, monks and students from Italy and Austria.
Specifically, the Phanar was visited by their Eminences Archbishop Giuseppe Satriano of Bari and Bitonto, and Archbishop Maurizio Aloise of Rossano and Cariati, along with clergy and university professors from Catholic Institutes, and faithful from their provinces, as well as a group of students from the Pontifical University Antonianum under the leadership of Fr. Luca Bianchi, responsible for ecumenical relations. Also, a group of Professors and students from the Catholic Seminary of Vienna lead by its Dean, Mr. Richard Tatzreiter.
Welcoming the above groups fraternally and cordially during this Paschal season to the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, His All-Holiness, speaking in Italian and German, expressed his sorrow for the passing of the Primate of the Roman Catholic Church, the late Pope Francis. As he said, until a few days ago he had hoped to welcome him next May in Nicaea of Bithynia and to celebrate together the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council. His All-Holiness said that Pope Francis was “a brother with whom we shared a deep friendship and had similar views,” and recalled that they had the opportunity to meet many times and collaborate “to strengthen the path of our Churches towards the common Chalice, and for the good of humanity.”
His All-Holiness referred to their meetings in the Holy Land, in 2014, in Lesvos, as well as their collaboration to raise awareness of global public opinion on migration and refugees, on preserving peace, but also on the issue of protecting the natural environment and God’s Creation as a whole. [Read His All-Holiness’s speech here]
During the visit, His Eminence Archbishop Maurizio Aloise of Rossano presented His All-Holiness with a copy of the Codex Purpureus Rossanensis, a world-famous Greek manuscript from the 5th-6th century containing the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. His All-Holiness had admired the original Codex during his visit to Rossano in Calabria.
Photographs: Nikos Papachristou
