THE Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a letter of sympathy and support to him Pope Franciswho underwent surgery yesterday at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.

His Holiness wishes the Pope of Rome a speedy and complete recovery of his health and a speedy return to his sacred and multi-responsible duties, in view of the Enthronement of the Church of Presbyterian Rome, to which the Patriarch will send, as every year, an official delegation, consisting this year of the Metropolitan Iob of Pisidia, the Bishop of Nazianzou Athenagoras and the Third Kallinikos.

It is noted that Pope Francis, prior to his admission to the hospital, sent a congratulatory telegram to His Holiness for his upcoming canonization, the text of which follows in a Greek translation:

“Her

His Holiness,

The Archbishop of Constantinople,

Ecumenical Patriarch

Bartholomew.

The liturgical celebration of the Most High Patron Saint, the Apostle Bartholomew, gives me the opportunity to send warm wishes to Your Holiness and to assure You through my prayers to Almighty God, as He, the source of all good, grant me health , happiness and apostolic zeal in your ministry. By offering his blood for Jesus, Saint Bartholomew gave the supreme witness for his faith. Indeed, at the moment when the martyrs appear as completely helpless and humanly defeated, then they emerge as victorious in the eyes of God, because precisely their victory is based on complete trust in the Lord. Through this exemplary discipleship, we see the path that all Christians are thus called to walk today: not seeking worldly success, but demonstrating absolute fidelity to the Gospel and radical, like children, trust in our heavenly Father. I am sure that, by walking this path together, Catholics and Orthodox will gain a deeper experience of the ties that already unite them in faith, hope and charity, so that they will be encouraged to persevere in the path, the they lived in complete and visible unity. Affected by such sentiments, I exchange with you, dear brother in Christ, a kiss of peace in the Lord.

Pope Francis”