Patriarch Bartholomew

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I has been the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church since 1991.  He is a Turkish citizen of Greek ancestry, as the Ecumenical Patriarch must be according to Turkish law because the see is Constantinople (Istanbul).  While Turkey once had many ethnic Greeks, most emigrated or were killed in genocide as the Ottoman Empire fell. As Patriarch, Bartholomew has championed inter-Christian and inter-religious dialogue and has defended the environment.

As Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew is considered the “first among equals” of the Patriarchs leading the Orthodox church. Although many Orthodox live in Eastern Europe, more than a million Orthodox Christians live throughout the Middle East, with considerable populations in Egypt and the Levant. While Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism agree on many core matters of doctrine, they disagree on the amount of authority given the head of the Church, as well as some matters of practice.

For more information on the Patriarch, see http://bit.ly/yAvC5X.