According to reports, the head of the Orthodox Church raised all issues concerning the Patriarchate, with an emphasis,per ERT, on safeguarding its ecumenical role and the importance of religious freedom.
Matters of interfaith dialogue were also discussed.
The Ecumenical Patriarch arrived at the White House as scheduled at 2 p.m. Washington local time to meet President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
He was received at the entrance by the White House chief of protocol, Monica Crowley.
Accompanying the Ecumenical Patriarch on his trip to the United States are Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea, Metropolitan Maximos of Silivri, and the Grand Ecclesiarch and Director of the Patriarchal Office, Father Aetios.
Immediately after his meeting with the U.S. President, Mr Bartholomew will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, accompanied by General Andrew Poppas.
The rest of his programme in Washington includes a formal dinner at the State Department, a lunch with the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, attended by lawmakers from both parties, as well as a reception at Saint Catherine parish in Virginia.
On Thursday the Patriarch will travel to New York, where he will visit the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at Ground Zero in Manhattan.
There he will celebrate a thanksgiving service (doxology), meet young Orthodox faithful, and take part in commemorative events for the 9/11 first responders. In New York he will also meet UN Secretary-General António Guterres and speak at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
The visit takes place on the occasion of the Ecumenical Patriarch being honoured with the Templeton Prize. The ceremony will be held on 24 September at Lincoln Center, with figures such as Jane Goodall, Al Gore and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in attendance.
As part of his stay in the United States, the Ecumenical Patriarch will visit the Greek Orthodox parish in the Hamptons, where he will take part in World Cleanup Day together with researchers from Stony Brook University and will be awarded the institution’s highest medal. Finally, on Sunday he will celebrate the Divine Liturgy together with hierarchs from across America.
