Τhe Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, this week began a tour of the northeastern Aegean islands of Imvros and Tenedos, the first of which is his native island.
His visit comes in the wake of the latest painful development for Christians around the world, especially Orthodoxy, entailed in the decision regarding the Hagia Sophia, which for nearly a millennium served as the Patriarchal cathedral for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in other words the seat of Orthodoxy.
On Tuesday, His All Holiness officiated at the vespers service at the Church of St. Haralambos on Imvros, on the occasion of the feast day of the Holy Martyrs Cyricus and Jul-I-tta.
In fact, he mentioned an ancient chapel on the island, dedicated to the son and mother saints, which he frequently visited as a pupil.