Patriarch Bartholomew leads first patriarchal liturgy in Thessaloniki’s Rotunda

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided implicit the archetypal patriarchal liturgy ever held successful the historical Church of Saint George (Rotunda) successful Thessaloniki connected Sunday.

“It is the archetypal clip that an Ecumenical Patriarch successful bureau has presided successful this historical church,” said Bartholomew successful his homily.

Recalling the centuries-old past of the Rotunda, archetypal built under Emperor Galerius and aboriginal consecrated arsenic a Christian religion by Theodosius I, Bartholomew stated that contempt its constricted ecclesiastical use today arsenic a UNESCO monument, it remains a beatified place.

He pointed to its surviving mosaics arsenic testimony to the transportation betwixt Orthodox theology and aboriginal Christian art.

Furthermore, the Patriarch called Thessaloniki a spiritual beacon and a surviving halfway of Orthodox faith, culture, and tradition.