Lithuania and Patriarch Bartholomew signed a cooperation agreement. This is the basis for the creation of a parallel church structure in the country, the Lithuanian Prime Minister said.
This was reported by Delfi.
During the meeting in Vilnius, Patriarch Bartholomew also assured that a new perspective is opening up in Lithuania with the possibility of strengthening the presence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the country.
As is known, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew came on a three-day official visit to the Republic of Lithuania at the invitation of the Prime Minister of the country, Ingrid Šimonite.
He arrived at the Vilnius International Airport on Monday afternoon, where he was met on behalf of the Government by State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Egidius Meilunas, together with other officials.
He was also greeted by Gregory Karahalios, Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to the country, and Mehmet Apak, Deputy Head of the Diplomatic Mission at the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey.
During his visit, the Ecumenical Patriarch will have private meetings with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Prime Minister Šimonite, Parliament President Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, government members, and other high-ranking officials, as well as with Roman Catholic believers.
He will also lay a wreath at the monument to those who died in the struggle for the independence of Lithuania, take part and speak at the opening of the international conference organized by the European People’s Party, meet with Orthodox priests and representatives of Greece, Ukraine, and Belarus.
The Ecumenical Patriarch is accompanied by Metropolitan Elder Emmanuel of Chalcedon and Metropolitan Arsenius of Austria, Grand Ecclesiarch Aetius, director of the personal Patriarchal Chancellery, and Alexandros the Second, and Nikolaos-Georgios Papachristou, director of the press and communication department of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. .
