Within the liturgical feast of Andrew, St. Peter's brother and patron of the Orthodox Church, from Phanar, the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Leo XIV and Patriarch Bartholomew issued a new call for Christian unity.
This November 29, 2025, the Pope said that the commemorations of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea that were celebrated yesterday – which defined the foundations of the Christian faith – are an encouragement to return to "full communion among all Christians."
Dressed in a mozzetta decorated with Peter and Paul – a red liturgical cape – the Pope arrived in the rain at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in the early afternoon. To the sound of bells ringing out, he walked down a red carpet, greeted on either side by a row of Orthodox dignitaries.
At the entrance to the building, Leo XIV was welcomed by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, with whom he lighted a candle of prayer. Considered the primus inter pares – first among equals – of Orthodoxy, Bartholomew I is the head of this patriarchate, which has only four million followers but wields significant influence in the Orthodox world. In total, there are approximately 225 million Orthodox Christians worldwide.
Inside St George's Church, in front of the iconostasis with its golden mouldings, the Pope took part in the liturgy of the Doxology – a prayer of praise to God, similar to the Latin Church's "Te Deum," – punctuated by Byzantine hymns. During prayers in various languages, including English and Italian, the congregation prayed for peace and unity among Christian churches. Notably, they prayed together the Our Father in Latin.
Bartholomew emphasized in his speech that this unity is "more necessary than ever," paying tribute to the visit of Leo XIV and speaking very warmly of the initiatives of his predecessor Francis to bring Christians closer together. He suggested that the fact that the commemoration of Nicaea is Leo's first papal trip could bring blessing on his pontificate, and he compared it to the Orthodox tradition of praying before an icon of Jesus and the saints -- just as happened yesterday -- to invoke their blessing before the beginning of ministry.
In a brief greeting, the head of the Catholic Church expressed his "great emotion" at following in the footsteps of Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis, all of whom had visited this church during their visits to Istanbul. Leo XIV also spoke of his friendship with Bartholomew. The 85-year-old patriarch came to Rome at the beginning of his pontificate last May.
After the 40-minute liturgy, Leo XIV and Patriarch Bartholomew took a brief walk under a large black and large white umbrella to another building of the complex, where they signed together a Joint Declaration and exchanged gifts.
Among the accords noted in the Declaration was the will to continue working to find a common date for Easter; the Council of Nicaea, in fact, addressed that issue for the early Church.
From there, they had a brief closed-door meeting.
