Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew meets with Emmanuel Macron today in Paris: Religious tolerance and environmental protection on the agenda

FILE PHOTO: The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Mr. Bartholomew. Photo via Facebook, Ecumenical Patriarchate

Patriarch Bartholomew is visiting Paris today Monday where he will meet, among other things and with the president of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron.

According to French diplomatic circles, President Macron is expected to “welcome the Ecumenical Patriarch’s commitment to interreligious dialogue and tolerance”, while among the issues to be discussed is the situation in Ukraine as well as issues related to environmental protection and fight against global warming.

Tomorrow the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will meet with the Prime Minister of France Gabriel Attal and the President of the Senate, Gérard Lasse, while he will also pay an official visit to the seat of the Bishops’ Conference of France.

Then, as stated in the official program of the visit, an official reception and Doxology will be held at the Cathedral of Saint Stephen in Paris, patron of His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, in the presence of political authorities of Greece and France, diplomats of Orthodox countries, representatives of other Christian denominations and representatives of other religions, as well as multitudes of believers.

With information via APE-MPE
Paris, France

In the subscription edition of La Croix, an analysis signed by Malo Tresca and titled “The Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I will meet Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee” refers to the upcoming visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch to France, pointing out that on April 22 he will be received by French President.

“The President of the Republic will highlight the commitment of the Ecumenical Patriarch in favor of interreligious dialogue and tolerance”, they emphasize from the Élysée, which specifies that the two men are expected to refer together “to the situation in Ukraine as well as to issues related to the protection of the environment and the fight against global warming”. Two topics very dear to the Ecumenical Patriarch for many years, which is why he is often nicknamed the “green Patriarch”.

In the small world of French orthodoxy, it is pointed out that such a meeting with the head of state could also be an opportunity to return to thorny issues of bioethics.

The program of this new French stay of the Ecumenical Patriarch promises to be dense. On Monday, April 22, at the end of the morning, Patriarch Bartholomew I is going to visit the headquarters of the Bishops’ Conference of France (CEF), in Paris, where it is noted that this is the “first” time.

The publication refers, among other things, to the Ecumenical Patriarch’s entourage, which also includes Metropolitan Dimitrios of France, as well as to the doxology at the Greek Cathedral of Saint Stephen on Tuesday, April 23 in the evening.

[Le patriarche orthodoxe Bartholomeos Ier va rencontrer Emmanuel Macron à l’Élysée].