Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church greets His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with his Name Day

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia sent the following message to His Holiness Bartholomew, greeting him with his Name Day:

Your Holiness,

Beloved Brother in the Lord and Concelebrant at God’s Altar:

On the commemoration day of the All-Laudable Apostle Bartholomew, I greet Your Holiness with your Name Day.

The Holy Church glorifies the exploit of the apostles of Christ and perceives their ministry as a continuation of God’s economy in history with the help of the Holy Spirit. We firmly believe that pastoral responsibility entrusted to the apostles by Christ has been passed by them to bishops – heads of the Christian congregations.

The Primates of the Orthodox Churches take care for their dioceses and perform a ministry that has come to them from the apostles: they oversee the general order of church life, initiate conciliar discussions, and consolidate the unanimity of mind among their fellow bishops.

You received your primatial lot over twenty years ago and are exerting your energy and applying your many talents for the sake of rapid spreading and glorification of the word of the Lord (cf. 2 Thess 3:1). The years of your primatial ministry have been marked by the development of cooperation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople with the fraternal Orthodox Churches, the Moscow Patriarchate including.

Sharing with Your Holiness the joy of the celebration and following a good tradition of the recent years, I send representatives of our Church to the city of St. Constantine Equal-to-the-Apostles to convey to you my sincere wishes of good health for many years, peace and God’s inexhaustible help in your labours.

With fraternal love in Christ,

+ KIRILL

PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA