AP Photo 1 month ago

Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, holds the wooden cross as he arrives for an Epiphany ceremony to bless the water in the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. Similar ceremonies to mark Epiphany Day were held across Greece on river...

Reuters Pictures 1 month ago

Ecumenical Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I (R) attends a mass during the opening ceremony of the renovated Surp Vortvots Vorodman Armenian church in Istanbul December 28, 2011.

Reuters Pictures 2 months ago

Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I reacts as he attends a plenary session during the World Policy Conference at the historic Hofburg palace in Vienna December 10, 2011. The World Policy Conference is devoted to the issue of global governance in all its aspects and takes...

AP Photo 2 months ago

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I Patriarchate of Constantinople, talks at the World Policy Conference at the Hofburg palace in Vienna, Austria, on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011.

Reuters Pictures 2 months ago

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L), accompanied by Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I (R) and Archbishop Demetrios (C), Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, visits the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul December 3, 2011.

AP Photo 2 months ago

U. S. Vice President Joe Biden, center left, and Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, center right, are seen during Biden's visit to the Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. A free political climate is essential to economic innovation, and countries that try...

Getty Images 2 months ago

US Vice President Joe Biden (L) poses with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I (R) at the St George churh during his visit to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul on December 3, 2011. Biden, who arrived to Turkey from Iraq, urged Assad to quit power in an interview with...

Reuters Pictures 2 months ago

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) poses with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I (C) and Archbishop Demetrios (R), Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, during his visit to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul December 3, 2011.

Getty Images 3 months ago

Ecumenical Patriarchate Bartholomew I (R) poses with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe before their meeting at Fener Patriarchate in Istanbul on November 17, 2011. Alain Juppe held talks with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul expected to focus on the crisis in...

AP Photo 3 months ago

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, left, delivers his speech during a peace meeting in the St. Mary of the Angels Basilica, in Santa Maria degli Angeli, central Italy, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. Buddhist monks, Muslim imams, Orthodox patriarchs and Yoruba leaders have flocked with Pope...

AP Photo 5 months ago

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I takes his place as Orthodox officials gather at the Ecumenical Patriarchate Church in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011, before he chaired the Synaxis of Heads of the Ancient Patriarchates and the Autocephalous Church of Cyprus late Thursday. ...

Reuters Pictures 6 months ago

Ecumenical Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I (C) leads the Virgin Mary service at the ancient Sumela Monastery in the Black Sea coastal province of Trabzon, northeastern Turkey, August 15, 2011. Thousands of Orthodox pilgrims from Greece, Russia and Georgia attended the mass at the...

Getty Images 6 months ago

Greek Orthodox Church's Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (C), meditates near a mosaic of him and Cuban President Fidel Castro, in the yard of the newly built orthodox church in Old Havana, 22 January, 2004. Bartholomew I, leader of some 300 million people, arrived late Wednesday in...

Reuters Pictures 2 months ago

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) meets with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul December 3, 2011.

AP Photo 2 months ago

U. S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I are seen during a meeting at the Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. A free political climate is essential to economic innovation, and countries that try to censor the Internet...

Reuters Pictures 2 months ago

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) poses with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I before leaving the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul December 3, 2011. Biden on Saturday chided Arab leaders who restrict freedom of expression and warned nations cannot thrive when people are...

Getty Images 2 months ago

US Vice President Joe Biden (L) and Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I pose on December 3, 2011 after their meeting at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul. Biden is on a two-day, official visit to Turkey.

Getty Images 2 months ago

US Vice President Joe Biden (C-L) attends a meeting with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I (C-R) during his visit to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul on December 3, 2011. Biden, who arrived to Turkey from Iraq, urged Assad to quit power in an interview with the...

AP Photo 2 months ago

U. S. Vice President Joe Biden, center, is greeted by Orthodox Patriarchate officials as he arrives to meet with Patriarch Bartholomew I in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. A free political climate is essential to economic innovation, and countries that try to censor the...

Reuters Pictures 2 months ago

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek (L) shakes hands with Ecumenical Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I before their meeting at the patriarchate in Istanbul November 25, 2011.

Getty Images 2 months ago

European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek (L) poses with Ecumenical Patriarchate Bartholomew I before their meeting in Istanbul on November 25, 2011. Jerzy Buzek arrived in Ankara on November 24 for talks on Turkey's European Union membership bid as well on of human rights and media...

Reuters Pictures 3 months ago

France's Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppe (L) shakes hands with Ecumenical Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I before their meeting at the patriarchate in Istanbul November 17, 2011.

Getty Images 3 months ago

ASSISI, ITALY - OCTOBER 27: Pope Benedict XVI (3rdL), Rabbi David Rosen (4thL), Archbiscop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (L) and patriarch Bartholomew I (2ndL) attend the meeting 'Pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace' a day of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in...

Getty Images 3 months ago

ASSISI, ITALY - OCTOBER 27: (3rdL-R) Archbishop Norvan Zakarian, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Ecumenical Patriarch of Orthodox Church Bartholomew I, Pope Benedict XVI, Rabbi David Rosen, Wande Abimbola, Acharya Shri Shrivatsa Goswami and Ja Seung, the head of South Korea's...

Getty Images 3 months ago

ASSISI, ITALY - OCTOBER 27: Pope Benedict XVI (2ndL) embraces Rabbi David Rosen while Archbiscop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (L) embraces patriarch Bartholomew I at the Saint Francis Basilica on October 27, 2011 in Assisi, Italy. The Pontiff made a pilgrimage to the home of Saint...