What a grace, Your Holiness, to be brothers in the hope of the Risen Lord!’
Pope Francis to Orthodox Patriarch, Istanbul, 2014
Pope Francis and the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomeos in İstanbul, 2014
Pope Francis was an exceptional man. I have always been fascinated by his deep sense of empathy, great humour and enthusiasm to build bridges. I have a soft spot for reformers who want to do away with age old traditions and hostilities that are no longer serving people and Pope Francis was definitely a reformer who was willing to put aside rigid notions and traditions which are incompatible with today’s world. Pope Francis’ willingness to accept the invitation of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in İstanbul was one of his progressive moves as Catholic and Orthodox Churches had been ‘enemies’ for centuries. We are talking about two sects that had excommunicated one another in history and had not recognised one another for 900 years.
Pope Francis visited İstanbul in 2014 after the invitation of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in İstanbul. Pope visited the Fener Greek Patriarchate, asking fıor forgiveness after 810 years for the Latin Crusaders who crushed the city of Orthodox Constantinople in 1204, expressing his desire to build bridges between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The moment Pope and the Patriarch prayed for unity was captured by reporters.
During his visit, Pope Francis had also visited the Sultanahmet Mosque praying with the Muslim spiritual leader for peace in the region as well as the world.
Sultanahmet Mosque Interior
Pope Francis was expected to visit İstanbul on May 26, 2025 for the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of the Christian Church which was the first ecumenical council, bringing bishops to discuss and decide on major theological matters in Nicaea in AD 325.
An icon depicting the decisions taken in the First Council of the Christian Church
Unfortunately, Pope won’t be able to be with us but he will always be remembered as the exceptionally humble, loving and humorous spiritual leader he was!
Note on the visuals: photos are taken from Agos.com.tr and evrensel.net
