Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew re-admitted to hospital for possible heart surgery (UPDATED)

Ecumenical Patriach Bartholomew was  re-admitted overnight to hospital for an angiogram following chest complaints reports Open TV.

According to the news report the Patriarch complained of chest pains and discomfort and was immediately admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York for an angiogram with the possibility that he might have to undergo angioplasty to have stents implanted.

Earlier, Patriarch Bartholomew had a meeting with the newly elected mayor of New York, Eric Adams where he had the opportunity to talk about human rights, racial discrimination and police violence.

The new mayor chose the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America as the first place he visited the day after his election, as he has developed a personal relationship with Archbishop Elpidoforos since the pandemic.

In turn, the Ecumenical Patriarch gave his blessing to the new mayor, emphasizing that it is important that all people can progress without social and racial restrictions. Referring to the personal experience of Eric Adams, His All Holiness congratulated him for managing to take the bad experience police abuse and turn it into a successful career that will allow him to make positive changes and eliminate prejudices.

At that point, it appeared the Patriarch knew Eric Adams’ personal story of police abuse very well; an incident which led him to join the police force in order to help change it from within. He then followed a political career as president of Brooklyn County and now as the new mayor of New York.

Speaking to Greek news agency ANA,  New York Mayor Eric Adams referred to the demonstration of the Black Lives Matter movement in which he had marched with Archbishop Elpidoforos and praised the Greek Orthodox Church in America.

The relationship is reminiscent of another moment in the history of the Greek Orthodox Church in America when Archbishop Iakovos went to Selma, Alabama as the first white religious leader to support Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  and marched next to him during the US Civil Rights Movement.

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UPDATE: Since publication His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew successfully underwent stent placement at Mount Sinai Hospital and is expected to be released today (4/11)

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RESOURCE | ABOUT THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH

Bartholomew I  is the 270th and current archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, since 2 November 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the primus inter pares (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and as the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide.

Bartholomew I was born as Dimitrios Arhondonis, in the village of Agios Theodoros on the island of Imbros (later renamed Gökçeada by Turkey). After his graduation, he held a position at the Patriarchal Theological Seminary of Halki, where he was ordained a priest. Later, he served as metropolitan of Philadelphia and Chalcedon and he became a member of the Holy Synod as well as other committees, prior to his enthronement as ecumenical patriarch.

Bartholomew’s tenure has been characterized by intra-Orthodox cooperation, intra-Christian and inter-religious dialogue, and formal visits to Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim leaders seldom previously visited by an ecumenical patriarch. He has exchanged numerous invitations with church and state dignitaries. His efforts to promote religious freedom and human rights, his initiatives to advance religious tolerance among the world’s religions, as well as his efforts to promote ecology and the protection of the environment, have been widely noted, and these endeavors have earned him the title “The Green Patriarch”.

Among his many international positions, he currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the Elijah Interfaith Institute.

In 2018 the Moscow Patriarchate has broken communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a result of disputes over his decision to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.