05/20/2025
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Leo XIV Meet in Rome, Plan Nicaea Meeting in November
On Sunday, May 18, 2025, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew flew to Rome to attend the inauguration ceremony of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. In an unforgettable moment, he prayed together with the new pontiff as Leo XIV embarked upon his journey as the spiritual leader of the world’s Roman Catholics.
The following day, His All-Holiness had a private meeting with Pope Leo. At this meeting, both the Ecumenical Patriarch and Pope Leo affirmed their dedication to continuing and strengthening the brotherly ties that Pope Francis had with His All-Holiness. They mutually resolved to work together to defend those who are weak and in need, and to promote peace worldwide.
His All-Holiness and the new Pope also agreed to meet together in Nicaea toward the end of November, near the Feast of Saint Andrew, in order to commemorate together the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council, which took place in the year 325. During this historic visit, Pope Leo may also visit the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, at the Phanar in Constantinople.
The meeting at the Phanar would be in response to the invitation of His All-Holiness, who stated recently of Pope Leo: “May he combine his visit to Nicaea with an official visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, on the occasion of our patronal feast of St. Andrew, on November 30.”
The Ecumenical Patriarch and Pope Francis had begun planning the meeting in Nicaea over a decade ago. At the time of Pope Francis’s passing, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew recalled that he and the late Pope Francis made plans during that 2014 meeting in Jerusalem for what would have been an historic meeting this year: “He was due to come to our country and together we would go to Nicaea, where the First Ecumenical Council was convened, to honor the memory of the Holy Fathers and exchange thoughts and wishes for the future of Christianity. All of this, of course, was canceled — or rather, postponed.”
When Pope Leo was elected, His All-Holiness stated: “We look forward, with Christian hope, to the new successor. I intend to attend his enthronement and to propose that we continue the dialogue between East and West.”
That dialogue resumed at the Vatican on Sunday and Monday, and by God’s grace, will continue in Nicaea and Constantinople in November.
