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Bartholomew I of Constantinople

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Bartholomew I of Constantinople

Bartholomew (born Dimitrios Archontonis, 29 February 1940) is the current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the primus inter pares (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and as a spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide.

Bartholomew was born in the village of Agios Theodoros (officially called Zeytinliköy) on the island of Imbros (later renamed Gökçeada by the Turkish government). After his graduation, he held a position at the Patriarchal Theological Seminary of Halki, where he was ordained a priest. Later, he served as Metropolis of Philadelphia and Chalcedon and he became a member of the Holy Synod as well as other committees, prior to his enthronement as Patriarch.

Bartholomew's tenure has been characterized by intra-Orthodox cooperation and intra-Christian and inter-religious dialogue, such as formal visits to Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, and Muslim leaders previously visited by a patriarch. He has exchanged numerous invitations with church and state dignitaries. His efforts to promote religious freedom and human rights, his initiatives to advance religious tolerance among the world's religions, as well as his efforts to promote ecology and the protection of the environment, have been widely noted, and these endeavors have earned him the title "The Green Patriarch".

Among his many international positions, he currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the Elijah Interfaith Institute. In 2018, the Moscow Patriarchate broke communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a result of disputes over his decision to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Dimitrios Arhondonis was born in the village of Agioi Theodoroi on the island of Imbros (now Gökçeada, Turkey), son of Christos and Meropi Archodónis (née Skarlatos), both of Greek descent. He was the fourth and last child and as a boy helped his father in his coffee shop that also doubled as a barber's.

He began his studies at Imbro and went on to attend the Zografeion Lyceum high school in Istanbul, then entered the Theological School of Halki on the island of that name (Turkish: Heybeliada), in the Sea of Marmara. There he gained a doctorate in theology. On 13 August 1961, he was ordained deacon and in the years 1961–1963 completed military service in the Turkish army with the rank of sublieutenant. Following this, from 1963 to 1968, with a study bourse from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, he gained diplomas in postgraduate specialization at the Oriental Institute of the Gregorian University in Rome, the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey (Switzerland) and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Subsequently, he gained a doctorate from Rome's Gregorian University with a thesis regarding the codification of the canons and canonical decrees in the Orthodox Church, perfecting also in these years his knowledge of Latin, Italian, French, English, and German.

As Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew has been particularly active internationally. One of his first focuses has been on rebuilding the once persecuted Eastern Orthodox churches of the former Eastern Bloc following the fall of Communism there in 1990. As part of this effort, he has worked to strengthen ties among the various national churches and patriarchates of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He has also continued the reconciliation dialogue with the Catholic Church started by his predecessors and initiated dialogue with other faiths, including other Christian Churches, Muslims, and Jews.

He has also gained a reputation as a prominent environmentalist, putting the support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate behind various international environmental causes. This has earned him the nicknames of "the Green Patriarch" and "the Green Pope", and in 2002 he was honored with the Sophie Prize for his contribution to environmentalism. He has also been honoured with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award which may be bestowed by the Legislative Branch of the United States government.

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