Bartholomew

With a difference of three votes, Daniil of Vidin has been elected as the new Bulgarian patriarch, marking him as the fourth patriarch since the restoration of the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. He secured the position after a runoff against Gregory, following the death of Patriarch Neophyte on March 13 due to a serious illness.

Earlier this month, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew - along with many other countries and organizations - attended the Ukraine Peace Summit. Nearly 80 countries issued a statement calling for the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end Russia's two-year war. The Ecumenical Patriarch's signature was originally on that document.

Pope Francis has said he wanted to visit Turkey next year to celebrate the anniversary of the first council of the Christian Church.

"It's a trip that I desire to go on, with all my heart," the pontiff told a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Istanbul, a Vatican statement said.

Easter and its central message of the resurrection "serves as the motivation for the struggle against the presence of evil and its consequences in the world, acting as a powerful transformative force," Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has said in his Easter encyclical.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is in Paris for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. 

According to French diplomatic sources, Macron is anticipated to "commend the Patriarch's dedication to interfaith dialogue and tolerance." 

Today, just before 8 a.m., the mortal remains of Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte were laid out for veneration at Patriarchal Cathedral "St. Alexander Nevsky".

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Council of Ministers have unveiled the schedule for the funeral proceedings of Patriarch Neophyte, who passed away on Wednesday evening after battling a lung ailment at the Military Medical Academy in Sofia. The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church announced that the public can pay their respects to the late patriarch on Friday at St.

Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni is to visit Istanbul on Monday. During her three-day stay, the minister will meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, visit the new Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) offices and have contacts with businesspeople and tourism-sector organizations, such as the Turkey Travel Agencies Association (TURSAB).

After the "salvo" of the Holy (Monastic) Community against the visit of Archbishop of America Elpidophoros to Mt Athos, delivered on the occasion of the baptism of children of a Greek-American same-sex couple, the monastic community is going through days of solemnity due to the Christmas holidays, which are celebrated according to the old Julian calendar.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's roughly 300 million Greek Orthodox Christians, is planning to visit Australia later this year. 

The visit, according to Australian Archbishop Makarios, is part of a series of celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.