His new book Archbishop of Australia Mr. Makarios, entitled “The Ecumenical Patriarchate – Church ‘Rich and Suffering'” was presented to the reading public at an event held at the Sismanoglio Palace of the Consulate General of Greece in Istanbul. The event was attended by Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomew.

The book was presented by the secretary general of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy and member of parliament Maximos Charakopoulos, the former deputy prime minister and professor of Constitutional Law at the Law Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Evangelos Venizelos and his professor of Canon Law of the Department of Pastoral and Social Theology of the same university Theodoros Yagou. The debate was moderated by the Metropolitan of Dimitrias, Mr. Ignatios.

Evangelos Venizelos analyzed the timeless impact of the decisions of the Ecumenical Throne over the centuries, focusing his speech on the ecclesiological, historical and political dimension of the Ukrainian Question. Maximos Charakopoulos referred to the special role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Orthodox Church and its ecumenical dimension, while Professor Theodoros Yagou contributed his observations on the canonical issues dealt with in the book.

Some of the individual chapters of the book concern:

– In the brief history of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

– In the Appeal, the prerogative of the Ecumenical Patriarch to give a fair trial

– At the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church in Crete in 2016

– In breaking communion with the bishop

– On the Ukrainian Question et al.

Taking the floor, the archbishop of Australia Mr. Makarios praised the personality, contribution and work of the Ecumenical Patriarch. He pointed out that the major event of the day is the 50th anniversary of the election of Mr. Bartholomew as a bishop and, particularly moved, he mentioned that every time his obligations prevented him from writing the book, he said that he had to continue because he owed it to the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Closing the event, Mr. Bartholomew, expressed his congratulations to the Archbishop of Australia for his work.

At the end of the event, the choir of the Pera Musicophiles Association, led by the ‘Archon I’ Domestic of the Great Church of Christ, George Kioseoglou, sang Christmas hymns.

Yesterday, Sunday, Evangelos Venizelos visited the Patriarch at the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Fanari, accompanied by his wife Vassiliki Bakatselos, Ambassador Konstantinos Koutras, Consul General of Greece in Istanbul and Professor of Medicine Christos Dervenis.