Apostolic Visit of His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and senior hierarch to more than 250 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, promoted interfaith unity and collaboration during a historic, ecumenical visit to Georgetown on Monday, Oct. 25, as part of his 12-day U.S. tour.

The ceremony took place in Georgetown’s newly renovated Copley Crypt Chapel, where Catholic Masses and Orthodox Christian liturgical services are celebrated year-round. Standing before a newly installed Orthodox icon screen, the Ecumenical Patriarch praised his “real brotherly friendship with Pope Francis” and accepted a ceremonial gift symbolizing religious unity from Georgetown President John J. DeGioia. Read the full story, Georgetown University News, October 26, 2021. 

In 1997, His All-Holiness received an honorary degree from Georgetown and he returned to deliver a major address, “A Changeless Faith for a Changing World,” in 2009. 

Georgetown students Elliott Clark (COL ’22), Orest Mahlay (COL ’22), and Joey Mavrogiannis (SFS ’23) attended the interfaith ceremony with the Ecumenical Patriarch, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, DC, Georgetown President John J. DeGioia, Thomas A. Reynolds III, chair of Georgetown’s Board of Directors along with other students. The students reflected on the significance of the event for Georgetown’s Orthodox community and the campus community at large. They hope that when they look back on this experience amidst the return to the stressful and chaotic workloads of college life they recall the sense of spiritual refreshment they felt from the Ecumenical Patriarch’s words and presence. Read the student reflections. 

Georgetown’s New Orthodox Chaplaincy Endowment

Thanks to a generous gift from Georgetown Board of Directors member Michael Psaros (B’89) and Family, the Orthodox Chaplaincy is the first chaplaincy in the Office of Campus Ministry to be endowed with a named Chaplain. The Orthodox Christian Chaplaincy will be named in honor of His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I.

This endowment will support a full-time Orthodox chaplain to serve the pastoral and spiritual needs of the university’s growing Orthodox Christian student community.

“This endowment will result in the very tangible presence of the Holy Orthodoxy at the University for centuries to come,” Psaros said. “Georgetown University is now in possession of a patriarchal chaplaincy, in the name of Bartholomew, the longest-serving Ecumenical Patriarch in history and the most consequential in modern history,” he said. Read the full story.