Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, 85, visited Falls Church for a doxology service at St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church Sept. 17. It was part of the patriarch’s apostolic visit to the U.S., with Bishop Michael F. Burbidge attending as an honored guest.
Bartholomew is the highest-ranking bishop of the 17 self-governing churches that comprise the Orthodox Church with an estimated 300 million members. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is by far the largest Orthodox church in the U.S. with 1.5 million baptized members.
Bishop Burbidge said he was honored to be invited and grateful to attend the doxology, calling the patriarch’s visit a “great blessing to the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States.”
“It was a prayerful and joyous event,” he said. “His gracious words and reflections regarding the deep and efficacious love of God that motivated him to create us, redeem us, and draw us closer to himself as a family of God, renewed my commitment to pray for full, visible communion between our churches.”
On his visit to the U.S. Capitol earlier Sept. 17, Bartholomew told the outlet Orthodox Times: “The Capitol itself bears witness to the great experiment that is called the United States of America. The Ecumenical Patriarchate understands how it is possible for such diverse peoples to come together and to be ‘E Pluribus Unum,’ for the same is true of our Orthodox Christian Faith.”
Father Donald J. Rooney, diocesan director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and pastor of St. Bernadette Church in Springfield, said that comity amongst Catholics and Orthodox Christians is vital.
“Collaboration along the path to unity is of utmost importance to the future of Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity,” said Father Rooney. “Christian unity is not a goal but is essential to our identity. Of all the ecumenical relationships, the relationships with our brothers and sisters in the Orthodox churches are the most needed to be resolved.”
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