‘This made my life complete’
Hundreds greet Orthodox Christian patriarch at South Bend church
After kissing the hand of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, 84-year-old Andrew Manos said, “This made my life complete now.”
Bartholomew — the spiritual leader of some 300 million Eastern Orthodox Christians internationally — presided over a service at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in South Bend, Indiana, on Thursday, one of the quieter and more intimate moments during the patriarch’s historic 12-day visit to the United States.
“Today is a beautiful day,” said Manos, a South Bend resident who immigrated to the United States from Corinth, Greece, about six decades ago. “It’s a blessing for us to be part of this service and to have his all-holiness be in South Bend.”
The patriarch’s arrival at the church was greeted by a procession of children bearing flags and bouquets of roses. Bartholomew in turn gave the boys and girls gold cross pendants as gifts.
The service at the church about 90 miles from downtown Chicago was attended by several hundred priests, bishops and worshippers — many from the Chicago area and other parts of the greater Midwest — who kissed the patriarch’s hand and received from him a small icon of St. Andrew with a blessing on the back.
Adorned in gold and red vestments, the patriarch stood at the ornate wooden cathedra, or bishop’s throne, at the altar, which was decorated with fresh flowers. During his homily at the end, Bartholomew spoke in Greek of doing the work of Christ.
“Our faith in Christ, the incarnate pre-eternal word of God, is the saving response to our ultimate questions,” he said. “There can be no complete fulfillment of the human existence without Christ as the way, the truth and the life. Christ calls us to proclaim his Gospel, to become the salt of the earth, to place our lamp on a stand, to become a neighbor for those who fall upon thieves in order to support the least of our brothers and sisters, in accordance with his words: ‘As you do it to one of these, the least of my brothers and sisters, you do it to me.’ ”
The service was a precursor to a convocation ceremony Thursday evening at the University of Notre Dame, where Bartholomew gave an address and received an honorary degree.
Officials at the prominent Roman Catholic university have termed the patriarch’s visit to campus as a moment of healing — one small step on a long road toward potential reconciliation for the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, hundreds of years after the Great Schism of 1054 divided the two faiths.
The patriarch had originally been scheduled to receive the honorary degree and give the university’s commencement address in May 2020, but that was postponed due to the pandemic.
Bartholomew, 81, has served three decades as the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, a role often referred to as the “first among equals” in the hierarchy of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The position is similar in prominence to a Roman Catholic pope but without the universal power of the papacy.
He arrived in Washington, D.C., on Saturday but was briefly hospitalized Sunday, feeling unwell after his travels from his homeland of Turkey, according to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. The patriarch recovered quickly and resumed his schedule of services and events, including a meeting Monday with President Joe Biden.
“Their meeting underscored the critical role that faith communities play in confronting the range of global challenges we all face, as well as the decadeslong friendship and partnership between President Biden and His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch,” a White House statement said.
Afterward, the patriarch called Biden a “man of faith, and man of vision.”
The church service in South Bend was a rare opportunity for Eastern Orthodox Christians to see the patriarch in person and receive his blessing.
“This is the only chance we would have ever had to meet him,” said Christine Callas, 90, of South Bend.
John Calash came from west suburban Naperville and brought his 2-year-old son, Nectarios.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have our chief shepherd here to give his blessing and guidance to future generations,” Calash said.
In an address at the service’s conclusion, Metropolitan Nathanael Symeonides, leader of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, noted the honor the patriarch would receive at Notre Dame, as well as his whirlwind schedule of events and meetings with dignitaries.
“It is a source of great joy for our metropolis to have you in our midst, blessing and sanctifying us all,” he said. “All of these honors and blessings extend even to our modest community, being that you, despite your demanding schedule, hastened with feet exalted as a loving and caring father to visit all of us gathered here today, your faithful children, the pious flock and clergy of the Metropolis of Chicago.”
The patriarch’s trip will culminate in New York, where he will officiate a door-opening ceremony at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine, built recently to replace a church destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and memorialize the thousands who were killed at the nearby World Trade Center.