“As I think back with gratitude on the progress made thus far, I assure you of my desire to persevere in the effort to restore full visible communion between our Churches,” said Leo XIV when he received a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, sent by Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, on June 28, 2025.
A visit from the Patriarchate is traditional for the June 29 feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The Catholic Church then sends a delegation to the Orthodox for November 30, feast of St. Andrew.
The Pope did not mention in his speech a possible trip to Turkey this year for the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, but his guests did speak of it.
The Orthodox delegation was led by Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, president of the Synodal Commission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Relations with the Catholic Church.
"Open to suggestions"
The Pope spoke of strengthening relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches:
After centuries of disagreements and misunderstanding, the resumption of genuine dialogue between the sister Churches of Rome and Constantinople was made possible through courageous and farsighted steps taken by Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras. Their venerable successors to the Sees of Rome and Constantinople have pursued with conviction the same path of reconciliation, thus further strengthening our close relations.
Here I would like to mention the witness of sincere closeness to the Catholic Church given by the Ecumenical Patriarch, His All Holiness Bartholomew, by his personal participation in the funeral of the late Pope Francis, and again at the Mass inaugurating my Pontificate.
The 267th pope expressed his willingness to follow in the footsteps toward unity, saying, "The attainment of this goal can only come about, with God’s help, through a continued commitment to respectful listening and fraternal dialogue."
For this reason, I am open to any suggestions that you may offer in this regard, always in consultation with my brother Bishops of the Catholic Church who, each in his own way, share with me the responsibility for the complete and visible unity of the Church (cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 23).
Is a trip to Turkey still in the works?
Patriarch Bartholomew, who, at the age of 85, came to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis on April 26 and for the inaugural Mass of Leo's pontificate on May 18.
The Patriarch has made several mentions of Leo continuing with the plan that the Patriarch and Pope Francis had made of celebrating the Nicaea anniversary together.
A trip to Iznik, site of the ancient city of Nicaea, some 130 kilometers southeast of Istanbul, had been desired by Pope Francis for this anniversary. The trip had initially been planned for around May 25, but the death of the Argentine pontiff and the election of Leo XIV in early May forced the project to be postponed.
However, on May 12, four days after his election, Leo XIV told journalists covering the conclave that he intended to visit Nicaea. We are preparing for the trip, he assured them, in answer to their questions about Francis' plans.
Although a trip has not been confirmed by the Holy See (and hadn't been confirmed even under Francis), Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon suggested in his speech on Saturday that it was still going ahead. He mentioned a visit by the Pope to the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Phanar and a joint commemoration with Bartholomew in Iznik, without giving a date.
Bartholomew himself has at least twice spoken of the trip happening in November for the feast of St. Andrew. The trip could be Pope Leo XIV's first.
