EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis). Many of us saw the very timely “departure” of Pope Francis as a sign from the Heavens that a Joint Celebration of Easter had to be postponed for better circumstances. It was so timely!! As the heretic leader of Orthodoxy had everything set for the Pope’s arrival in Constantinople in mid-May to celebrate 1700 years of the First Ecumenical Synod and declare a Common Easter. God did not let it happen…
But Patriarch Bartholomew continues to hope that his dreams will come true…
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Ecumenical Patriarch: We pray that a worthy successor to Pope Francis will be elected
Photo: KOSTAS TZOUMAS/EUROKINISSI
Addressing a group of Anglican and Roman Catholic pilgrims from Britain, including bishops and clergy, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said:
“We pray that a worthy successor to Pope Francis will be elected, so that we can continue the ecumenical relations and dialogue that we began several decades ago, as we have also done with the Anglican Communion.”
He also mentioned that this year Easter was celebrated with great joy and spiritual uplift, and especially that all Christians around the world celebrated it on the same day, which he described as a special blessing from God.
“With the late Pope Francis, we had recently worked to reach an agreement to celebrate Easter together, always, from now on – all Christians on the same day. Unfortunately, our efforts were not completed in time. However, we still have hope that the new Pope will be as supportive as the late Francis was, so that we can achieve this historic milestone,” the Ecumenical Patriarch said, among other things.
Referring to the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in Bithynia – an occasion he and the late Pope Francis had planned to commemorate together with a visit to the city this May – he said:
“We now hope that his successor, the new Pope of Rome, will be willing to fulfill Francis’ dream – a dream he deeply cherished – and that we will go together again in this year of 2025, the anniversary of the Council, and make our pilgrimage.”
“And perhaps this pilgrimage of the new Pope will coincide with his official visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, on the occasion of our Throne Feast on November 30, the Feast of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the founder of the Church of Constantinople.”
Source: ANA-MPA / Translated by Ioanna Georgakopoulou
We pray that a worthy successor to Pope Francis will be elected. That’s where his statement should have ended. If he upsets God he will go where Francis went. So he will meet Francis, but not in Nicaea.
One possible response to Bartholomew’s comment is “and we all pray that the next Synod of Constantinople consists of real Orthodox bishops, devoid of any Uniate-minded traitors of the Faith…”
Amen!
An Orthodox Patriarch should have expressed his condolences and left it at that. I tell my own people, if a Roman Catholic priest shows up at our church, you welcome him, you call him “Father”i.e., you don’t insult him. You might shake his hand, but you should not ask his blessing, nor invite him to enter the sanctuary. In other words, you are polite, but you don’t show him the courtesies that you would show a visiting Orthodox cleric. The OCA guidelines for clergy state that no non-Orthodox clergy should be in the sanctuary.
Give it a rest Cardinal Bartholomew. Please!
I don’t think it’s wrong to say “We pray that a worthy successor to Pope Francis will be elected.”, given the record of Francis. A worthy successor will clean the church of the pedofile priests and other abuses. Those kids deserve better!