His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros
Opening Prayer and Remarks
Meeting of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation
October 17, 2024
New York Hilton
New York, New York
Esteemed Archons and Founders of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation,
Invocation:
Let us commence with prayer:
O Lord Jesus Christ our God, You called Andrew to be your First-Called Disciple, and through his apostolate, You founded His Sacred See upon the shores of the Bosphorus.
Grant unto these dedicated and devoted children of our Holy Mother Church of Constantinople, to do all things that will enhance and provide for Her worldwide ministry, which thrives under the extraordinary leadership of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Through the intercessions of the Protokletos and Your Holy Mother. Amen.
Remarks:
This is an exciting time of the year for the Order of Saint Andrew, and for the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation. The bestowal of the Athenagoras Human Rights Award on Yulia Navalnaya this weekend, and the Investiture of the new class of Archons of the Throne are particularly inspiring. And later tonight, we shall enjoy a marvelous performance and dinner for the benefit of the Foundation, honoring the late, great Maria Callas.
The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation is becoming our institution, par excellence, in provision for a bright future of the Phanar, because the Foundation will be a perpetual resource for the First Throne of Orthodoxy. I am so very proud of this Board of Trustees and all who have made the commitment to see this dream take shape.
Our Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Bartholomew, is preparing to celebrate the thirty-third Anniversary of his election to, and his enthronement on, the Throne of Saint Andrew the First-Called Disciple. This longest tenure in history of any Archbishop of Constantinople has had enormous consequences, not only for Orthodox Christianity, but for the world. His visionary leadership in calling the Great and Holy Council of Crete in 2016, his unrelenting defense of the freedom of Ukraine, and his decades-long championing of the environment have positioned him as the greatest Ecumenical Patriarch in well over a century, and perhaps, much longer.
The work of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation will be seen by the coming generations as truly transformative.
I commend all of you for your devotion and your fidelity to the Throne of Saint Andrew and the amazing generosity of your resources and your time. Yours is a precious offering that will stand for the ages.
I look forward to the proceedings today, and I thank you once again for your commitment and faith.