His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, born Dimitrios Archontonis, was born in Imbros on 29 February 1940. He attended the Primary School of his village, the Zografeion Lyceum of Constantinople and the Central School of Imbro. He then studied at the Holy Theological School of Halki, the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome (Gregorian University), the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey (Switzerland) and the University of Munich. He speaks seven languages.
He was ordained deacon in 1961, priest in 1969 and Metropolitan of Philadelphia in 1973. In 1990 he was promoted to Elder Metropolitan of Chalcedon and on October 22, 1991 he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch.
Since His election as Ecumenical Patriarch, he has been working to strengthen pan-Orthodox unity and cooperation. For this purpose he established the Synaxes of the Orthodox Primates and made many visits to them, as well as inviting them and welcoming them at the Phanar. He convened the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church, which took place in Crete, in June 2016, and presided over its proceedings. It also promotes ecumenical dialogue with the other Christian Churches and Confessions, visiting their headquarters and participating in inter-Christian conferences and anniversary events.
During his Patriarchate he was received by many heads of state and government, many of whom officially visited the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He was invited and gave speeches at the European Parliament (1994, 2008), the Council of Europe (2007), UNESCO, the Forum 2000 in Prague (2019), the World Economic Forum in Davos (1999, 2020), and many others.
He has been awarded the highest honors of many states, including the Gold Medal of the American Congress, as well as the title of honorary doctorate from many University Institutions of the world.
He works systematically to raise the awareness of States and peoples with the aim of preserving Creation and protecting the natural environment, convening, among other things, ecological seminars in Halki and many ecological international symposia in various parts of the world.