The reception took place at the Church of Saint Alypios in Antalya, where the pilgrims venerated the holy icons with devotion. Afterwards, His Eminence had a cordial conversation with the members of the group in the headquarters of the Metropolis, while refreshments were offered to all those present.

The meeting was held in a climate of spiritual joy, emotion and love, highlighting the unbreakable ties of the Greeks with their homeland of Pisidia. The pilgrimage group then continued its journey towards the historical and ancestral land of Sparta in Pisidia.

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On the first day of his visit, His Eminence sailed to the Holy Monastery of Xenophon. He reverently venerated the holy relics and icons of the Monastery and attended the sacred services that were held in the main church of the monastery. He had the blessing of meeting and having an ecclesiastical conversation with the Very Reverend Abbot of the Holy Monastery, Elder Alexios, drawing spiritual benefit from his Athonite wisdom and experience.

The next day, His Eminence went to the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi. There, he presided over the Divine Liturgy and concelebrated with the Very

Reverend Abbot of the Monastery, Elder Ephraim, on the feast of the Holy Glorious and Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperors Constantine and Helen, according to the old calendar. He had the blessing of having a spiritual conversation with Elder Ephraim, drawing lessons from his Athonite experience.
The pilgrimage was completed in a warm atmosphere and His Eminence Metropolitan Job of Pisidia thanks the Very Reverend Abbots of the Holy Monasteries of Xenophon and Vatopedi for the cordial welcome and hospitality.

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The delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate consisted of Their Eminences Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium (co-chair of the theological dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion), Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, and Metropolitan Maximos of Silyvria, as well as the Very Revend Deacon Evlogios Tsatsas, the co-secretary of the dialogue. 

The Anglican Communion was represented by the Right Reverend Michael Lewis (co-chair of theological dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion), the Most Reverend Mark Strange (Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church), Canon Dr Christopher Wells (Director for Unity, Faith and Order), and the Reverend Neil Vigers (Programme Executive for Unity, Faith and Order). 

All participants in the Talks were graciously received in a private audience by His All-Holiness Bartholomew I who welcomed warmly the members of the two delegations and encouraged the continuation of their common work. The two delegations held in-depth discussions of matters of mutual interest and concern and described the priorities and life of each tradition.  

These talks have been held for many years, without a particular agenda, to encourage the spirit of mutual trust and understanding between the two ecclesiastical traditions.

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The aim of the consultation which gathered Orthodox members of the Commission, Orthodox theologians from Europe and professors and students of the local faculty was to strengthening the contribution of Orthodox theology to the current work of the Commission.

On 15 May, the leadership, staff, and members of the Commission continued their programme in Bucharest where they were received at the Patriarchal Palace by His Eminence Metropolitan Nifon of Târgoviște who welcomed the participants on behalf of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania. The delegation also held a meeting at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology “Justinian the Patriarch,” where faculty members, students, and PhD candidates learned about the history of Faith and Order and its current study processes. 

Founded in 1927 as a theological movement, the commission on Faith and Order is the think tank of the World Council of Church and a forum where Churches engage into dialogue by addressing what Christians believe (Faith) and how the Church is organized and governed (Order).

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In the morning, at the Holy Church of Saint Alypios in Antalya, a Tri-hierarchical Divine Liturgy was celebrated, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, in concelebration with His Eminence Metropolitan Theodoros of Seleucia, who presided from the throne at the festive Vespers and Matins on the eve, and His Grace Bishop Amvrosios of Eudokiada, with the participation of the clergy and the faithful of the Metropolis.

It is well known that the Holy Monastery of Kykkos in Cyprus had a metochion in this ancient city since the 18th century, where the residents venerated a miraculous copy of the icon of the Mother of God.

Before the Divine Liturgy, the Archpastor ordained as Reader a pious young man of Iranian origin, Mr. Jeremiah Yaghoubi, who serves the parish of Antalya.

The Divine Word was preached by His Eminence Metropolitan Theodoros of Seleucia, who emphasized that this feast is not a simple calendar commemoration but “a gate that opens in time, transporting us to the Antalya of the past, to the heart of Asia Minor, to honor the memory of the miracle of the Most Holy Mother of God of Tzikko (Kykkos)”. And he continued: “The miracle in our lives puts us on spiritual vigilance. This vigilance inevitably leads us to turn towards the Last Days… The Church is not an organization that looks back with nostalgia to the past, but a community that is drawn to the future, to the Kingdom of God”. And he emphasized that the pastoral work “in Antalya, Alanya, Side and in the entire eparchy (of Pisidia) is a testimony that Orthodoxy is not afraid of the world, but embraces it, in order to transform it, proving that our faith is a permanent Pentecost that speaks in all languages, but primarily, however, in the language of love”.

At the end, the parish of Antalya offered a festive meal to everyone in the courtyard of the Metropolis.

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In the evening of the same day, Mr. President and the First Lady of the country hosted an official dinner, to which the Ecumenical Patriarch was also invited.

His All-Holiness, who was welcomed at Antalya Airport in the morning by the local archpastor, Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, returned by plane to the City the same day.

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BY GOD’S MERCY

ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE – NEW ROME

AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH

TO THE ENTIRE PLENITUDE OF THE CHURCH:

GRACE, PEACE, AND MERCY FROM CHRIST, RISEN IN GLORY

* * *

Most honourable brother Hierarchs and blessed children in the Lord,

Having arrived, through fasting, prayer, and solemnity, at the radiant and all-festal day of Holy Pascha, we hymn and glorify the world-saving Resurrection of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, which marks the manifest victory of life over death, renews all creation, and opens to humanity the way of deification by grace. The Church of Christ preserves the paschal experience in her liturgical life, in the labours of the Saints and Martyrs of the faith, in the eschatological impulse of monasticism, in the proclamation of the Gospel “to the ends of the earth,” in theology and the ecclesial arts, in the good witness of the faithful in the world, in the culture of love and solidarity, and in the immovable certainty that evil does not have the final word in history.

The Resurrection of the Lord is lived as a Christ-bestowed freedom, which inspires, nourishes, and strengthens the creative powers of the human person and the good struggle for “whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable,” while reminding us all that the journey toward the Resurrection is inseparably bound to the Cross. The joy of the Cross and the Resurrection has preserved the people of God from identifying themselves with the spirit of this world, while at the same time safeguarding them from barren insularity and a spirituality devoid of dynamism and hope-bearing breath. The life of the faithful, in the crucified and risen Christ “for us men,” still today refutes every alien narrative of Christian ethos as a “morality of the weak,” supposedly embodied in humility, forgiveness, sacrificial love, asceticism, the Lord’s saying “but I say to you, do not resist the evil one,” and other principles and dispositions that belong to the very core of our identity. Nothing could be further from the truth than this reading of the ethos of Christianity — of sacrificial love that “does not seek its own,” a love interwoven with courage, boldness, and existential authenticity. Pascha is a hymn to this freedom, to faith “working through love,” which is not our own achievement but grace and a gift from above, and which is lived in the holy Sacraments of the Church and in the “mystery” of service to one’s neighbour. Indeed, “love for God does not in any way tolerate hatred toward one’s fellow human being.”

The Church of Christ — the “salt of the earth,” the “light of the world,” the city “set on a hill,” the lamp placed “on the lampstand” — bears active witness in the world, before the signs of the times, about the grace that has come and “the hope that is in us.” The message of the Cross and the Resurrection resounds today as a Gospel of peace, reconciliation, and justice. War, hatred, and injustice stand opposed to the fundamental Christian principles for whose realization and establishment the people of God pray and labour each day. In the light of the Resurrection, we beseech the Lord on behalf of the victims of wartime violence, the orphans, the mothers who mourn their children, and all those who bear in body and soul the effects of human cruelty and callousness. “Christ is risen” is a denial and condemnation of violence and fear and an invitation to a life of peace. War brings forth lamentation and death; the Resurrection conquers death and bestows incorruptibility.

Before the daily images of the cruelty of war, the Church raises her voice and proclaims the sacredness of the human person — of every concrete human being anywhere on earth — and the duty of absolute respect for that dignity; and she calls upon us to “know our own worth, honour the Prototype, recognise the power of the mystery, and understand for whose sake Christ died.” The Resurrection of the Lord is the restoration of the human being to his pre-eternal calling. As the “beginning of another eternal life,” it heals alienating relationships and establishes the peace “which surpasses all understanding” — a peace that encompasses worldly reconciliation and pacification.

Inspired by God, the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church — the tenth anniversary of whose convocation we honour this year — underlined the duty of the Church “to encourage whatever truly serves the cause of peace (Rom. 14:19) and opens the way to justice, brotherhood, true freedom, and mutual love among all the children of the one heavenly Father, as well as among all peoples who make up the one human family.”

Holy Pascha is the whole of our spiritual civilization, the very core of our piety. The Resurrection of the Lord is also our own resurrection in the present age, and at the same time a prefiguration and foretaste of the “common resurrection of all human beings” and of the renewal of the whole creation. Illumined by the all-radiant light of the face of the Risen Christ, and glorifying in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs His all-holy Name — the Prince of Peace, who is with us “always, unto the end of the age” — we wish you a blessed Resurrection, a paschal season filled with divine gifts, and every day of your lives likewise, crying out the universal proclamation of joy: “Christ is risen! Truly the Lord is risen!”

Phanar, Holy Pascha 2026

† Bartholomew of Constantinople

fervent supplicant for you all 

to the Risen Lord

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Beloved Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Ps. 117:24). “The day of Resurrection, let us be radiant, O peoples! Pascha, the Lord’s Pascha; for Christ God has brought us from death to life, and from earth to heaven, as we sing the triumphal song.” (Paschal canon, ode 1). Indeed, the day of Pascha fills our hearts with joy and gladness each year. But this jubilation does not simply stem from the celebration of a myth, nor of a past event, for the day of the resurrection is for us a present event that transports us toward the future, into the beatitude of the eternal Kingdom of God.

The resurrection of Christ is recounted in the four Gospels by eyewitnesses, the apostles, who, moreover, traced the historical life of our Lord Jesus Christ in their writings in light of their lived experience after the Lord’s radiant resurrection. Thus, all the historical events of our Lord’s life are interpreted and presented in the light of the encounter with the risen Christ, an encounter that marks the authenticity of the apostolic kerygma.

Saint Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles and the founder of the Church of Pisidia, was also worthy to encounter the risen Christ on the road to Damascus (Ac. 9:4). As he writes, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Cor. 15:17). The resurrection of Christ is therefore not simply a historical event of the past, but an event that concerns our future, that concerns the ultimate purpose of God’s creation. Indeed, Saint Paul affirms: “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised” (1 Cor. 15:13). According to him, the risen Christ appears as the head of the universal resurrection and subdues all evil powers under his feet, abolishing death forever (1 Cor. 15:23-26, 52-57). For this reason, our traditional Byzantine iconography represents the Resurrection of Christ as His descent into Hades and the liberation of Adam and Eve, personifying all of humanity, from the bonds of death.

And each of us, through our baptism, has become a witness and participant in the resurrection of Christ, as Saint Paul writes: “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:3-4). And this renewal which comes about in us through the holy mystery of baptism, through our personal participation in the Paschal Mystery, must transform our way of life, as the Apostle to the Gentiles exhorts us: “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above… for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. … Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed… get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth” (Col. 3:1-9).

Indeed, the Lord’s resurrection introduces the believer into the eternal Kingdom of God, which is the ultimate goal of our lives, and allows us to share with him the banquet of his Kingdom right now through the holy mystery of the Eucharist. It is remarkable that during the forty days following his Resurrection, the risen Christ appeared and ate with his disciples, breaking bread (Lk. 24:13-35; Jn. 21:1-14). Similarly, the Acts of the Apostles emphasizes that early Church broke bread, that is, performed the holy mystery of the Eucharist, “with gladness” (Acts 2:46) precisely because the Resurrection manifested God’s victory over his enemies, thus announcing the coming of the Kingdom of God into human history.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, all of us who are baptized must have in our hearts the same feelings as the holy apostles Luke and Cleopas, who walked with the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus: “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking to us on the road, while He was opening the scriptures to us?” (Lk. 24:32). May our hearts also burn with joy at the presence of the risen Christ in our lives! “Come let us share in the new fruit of the vine, in divine joy, and in the Kingdom of Christ, on the glorious day of the Resurrection, as we sing his praise as God to all the ages” (Paschal canon, ode 8). Christ is risen!

Antalya, Pascha 2026

+ Job of Pisidia

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His communication entitled “The Akathist Hymn in the Liturgical Tradition of Other Orthodox and Christian Traditions” offered a special scientific analysis of the Akathistos Hymn in Latin and the Slavic tradition. The conference concluded with great success under the blessing of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

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