Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received an honorary doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome on Friday, October 23, 2026, calling for greater unity, dialogue and cooperation among Orthodox Churches and between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.
Speaking at a conference organised by the university’s Institute for Ecumenical Studies (Oecumenicum) to mark the 10th anniversary of the Holy and Great Council of Crete, the Ecumenical Patriarch reflected on the Council’s legacy and its significance for the future of Christianity.
In his address, entitled “Conciliarity and Communion in the Church”, Bartholomew described the 2016 Council as one of the most significant events in recent Orthodox history, stressing that its importance extended beyond its immediate decisions and outcomes.
Council of Crete Remains a Milestone for Orthodoxy
Recalling the lengthy preparations that preceded the Holy and Great Council, Bartholomew said its convening demonstrated the Orthodox Church’s commitment to synodality and collective responsibility.
He stressed that the Orthodox Church should not function as a federation of independent Churches operating in isolation, but as one Body of Christ united through faith, sacramental life and apostolic tradition.
Addressing criticism over the absence of several autocephalous Orthodox Churches from the Council, he argued that its historical significance should not depend solely on attendance or immediate consensus.
The Ecumenical Patriarch highlighted the Council’s official documents on contemporary issues, including peace, justice, human dignity, religious freedom, environmental protection and relations with other Christian Churches.
He also pointed to the Council’s role in strengthening cooperation among bishops in regions where multiple Orthodox jurisdictions coexist.
Unity Requires Encounter
Dialogue and cooperation among Churches formed a central theme of Bartholomew’s address.
“Unity requires encounter,” he said, arguing that Churches cannot remain isolated from one another while claiming to express the fullness of Christian communion.
Referring to the Council’s document on relations between the Orthodox Church and the wider Christian world, Bartholomew defended theological dialogue as an expression of fidelity to Christ’s prayer for the unity of His disciples.
He acknowledged that many challenges addressed by the Council remained unresolved, particularly amid geopolitical tensions, ecclesiastical divisions and the growing secularisation of contemporary societies.
The Ecumenical Patriarch said the Council of Crete should therefore serve not as the conclusion of a process, but as the starting point for a renewed commitment to conciliarity, communion and cooperation.
Primacy and Synodality Must Remain Inseparable
Bartholomew also addressed the relationship between primacy and synodality, a central issue in theological dialogue between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.
He argued that neither principle could function properly without the other.
“Primacy without synodality risks becoming centralized authority detached from ecclesial communion; synodality without primacy risks fragmentation and the inability to manifest visible unity,” he said.
The Ecumenical Patriarch referred to the Ravenna Document of 2007 and the Chieti Document of 2016, which examined the relationship between primacy and synodality at local, regional and universal levels of Church life.
He also welcomed the Roman Catholic Church’s renewed emphasis on synodality, recalling the initiatives of Pope Francis and their continuation under Pope Leo XIV.
For Bartholomew, conciliarity represents more than an administrative procedure: it expresses the Church’s essential identity and communion.
Patriarch Calls for Dialogue Before Division
Concluding his address, Bartholomew argued that the future of Orthodoxy and Christianity more broadly depended on restoring the culture of conciliarity that characterised the early Church.
He called for “humility before triumphalism, encounter before isolation, dialogue before division, and communion before nationalism.”
Against a backdrop of growing polarisation, conflict and fragmentation, the Ecumenical Patriarch stressed that the Church must continue to bear witness to unity through consultation, dialogue and shared responsibility.
He described the Holy and Great Council of Crete as an invitation to rediscover this essential dimension of Christian life and enable the Church to reveal itself as a communion of love, truth and unity.
Bartholomew concluded by thanking the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas for the honorary doctorate and the opportunity to reflect on the Council’s enduring significance.
(Source: AMNA)
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