Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Receives Exceptional Academic Honor

On December 19, 2013, His All-Holiness received an honorary doctorate from Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University (formerly Robert College) for his extraordinary vision and initiatives for the protection of the natural environment. The award comes on the occasion of Boğaziçi University’s 150th anniversary. Not only is this Turkish institution of higher learning the first ever to be ranked (as it has since 2012) among the top 200 universities in the world, but it is the first to bestow such an honor on His All-Holiness, and the first also publicly to acknowledge his status and position as Ecumenical Patriarch, a title which has been used since the 6th century A.D.

Encyclical on Marriage and Family Issued by the Orthodox Church of Greece

The following encyclical issued by the Sacred Synod of the Church of Greece is meant to uphold the Orthodox Christian principles of marriage and family, and its opposition to the so-called Free Cohabitation Agreement issued by the Greek Government, which is positioned as an alternative form of permanent cohabitation and should not be considered a “soft” marriage.