Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon Meets with the Patriarch of Georgia
On Sunday, 16 August, His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, representing His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, visited His Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Sio III of Georgia.
The meeting, which was attended by Hierarchs and clergy of the Church of Georgia, took place in a particularly warm and cordial atmosphere.
His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel conveyed to His Beatitude the fraternal greetings of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, congratulated him on his enthronement as Patriarch of Georgia and thanked him for the warm welcome.
During the meeting, they discussed the continuation and strengthening of the fraternal relations between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Orthodox Church of Georgia.
Those present also referred to the funeral service and burial of the late Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia, as well as the visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Georgia on the day of the burial.
Patriarch Sio III once again expressed his gratitude to the Ecumenical Patriarch for his visit and support.
His Beatitude also referred to the day of his enthronement as Patriarch and to the warm letter of congratulations sent by the Ecumenical Patriarch on that occasion.
“Your Eminence, beloved brother Metropolitan Emmanuel, I welcome you with great affection to the Patriarchate of Georgia.
“This is our first private meeting since my enthronement. Together with our Metropolitans, we rejoice especially in your visit because, on the one hand, you are officially representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate today and, on the other, we have already met many times in a cordial atmosphere, so that today’s meeting also possesses this character.
“This naturally lends a special tone to our meeting and gives rise to the hope of very warm and positive relations in the future.
“I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to convey to His All-Holiness our request that he remember us in his holy prayers.
“We deeply appreciate the very warm and honourable attitude shown by His All-Holiness, as well as by you personally, towards the memory and person of Patriarch Ilia II, both during his lifetime and following his repose—an attitude that was expressed then and continues to be expressed today.
“I would especially like to highlight the address delivered by His All-Holiness at the funeral of Patriarch Ilia II. Everyone observed that it was imbued with genuine fraternal love, gratitude and respect.
“Certainly, the months following the repose of His Beatitude were extremely difficult for us, as was the continuation of the life of our Church without him.
“And now, by the grace of God, my election as Patriarch has taken place. I wish to remember—and will never forget—the congratulatory words of His All-Holiness, who publicly affirmed that this was a well-deserved outcome and offered his congratulations to all of us,” His Beatitude stated during his conversation with Metropolitan Emmanuel.
Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon responded:
“I thank you sincerely for your warm welcome.
“For me, as the representative of His All-Holiness, it is a particular joy to convey to you his fraternal greetings and best wishes.
“I came to Georgia with double joy: to congratulate you on your election as Patriarch and to emphasise the close relations between our two Patriarchates—the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Georgia. This is the legacy left to us by Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia.
“We regard your election as Patriarch of Georgia as a profoundly positive development. It will serve as the foundation for the continuation of the centuries-old relations that exist between these two Churches.
“His All-Holiness sent me to convey this message to you: we await you with great joy.
“His All-Holiness offers his particular support and makes every effort to ensure the continuation of relations between our Churches.”
It is worth noting that a significant part of the meeting was devoted to discussing the forthcoming visit of Patriarch Sio III to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
At the conclusion of the meeting, His Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Sio III presented gifts to Metropolitan Emmanuel. His Eminence was also entrusted with a gift intended for the Ecumenical Patriarch.
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