CEC General Secretary Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen had an audience with His All-Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and the Ecumenical Patriarch on 31 March at the offices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.

Together, they discussed plans for the 2023 General Assembly of CEC that will be held in Tallinn, Estonia. They also discussed CEC’s current activities, reflecting on pertinent questions concerning public theology in the Orthodox Church. They shared how CEC must raise important issues effectively in the European Institutions in cooperation with the Orthodox churches.  

They also discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine and responses from European churches, as well as consequences of the war on Ukraine’s neighbouring countries and the region.

His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, CEC’s former president, and CEC Vice-President Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and All Scandinavia, facilitated the meeting.