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The World Council of Churches (WCC) will participate in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the enthronement of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, organized by the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, 22-24 April 2017. His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, will be delivering a public lecture at the WCC on 24 April, at 12:00. H.A.H Bartholomew will address issues concerning the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church -that was held last year in Crete, Greece-, the contemporary environmental challenges and the protection of children rights.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will be visiting Switzerland for the celebration of 50 years of the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Institute of Postgraduate Studies at the same centre. The festive events include a one-day conference on 22 April, and the celebration of a Patriarchal Sunday Liturgy the following day. WCC will be represented at the festivities by general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit. A lecture in the University of Fribourg and a pilgrimage visit to the Taizé Community are also a part of the Ecumenical Patriarch’s pastoral visit.
For five decades now, the Orthodox Centre in Chambésy, following its longstanding ecumenical tradition, serves continuously the aims of mutual understanding between the different churches of the East and the West, as well as the cooperation among the autocephalous Orthodox Churches. The centre also provided during the past years the space for the long-term preparational discussions that led the Orthodox Churches to the Holy and Great Council. Chambesy is the spiritual home for a multinational and multilingual Orthodox community which represents the cultural richness of the Orthodox diaspora in the wider Geneva region.
The founder of the Centre was the late Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras I, a faithful servant of the ecumenical movement and of inter-Christian unity. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew continues the active involvement of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the life of the WCC and the ecumenical movement, through his leading participation in the process of global peace-building, cooperation and reconciliation among all people of goodwill.
Programme of the festivities in the Orthodox Centre of Chambesy
