Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on four-day visit to northern Greece

Bartholomew was welcomed at the Orestiada Square by Metropolitan Damaskinos of Didymoticho, Orestiada and Soufli and political, church and armed forces representatives, as well as by cultural organisations, pupils and people scattering flowers.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kyriakos Gerontopoulos represented the government. Also attending were Deputy Education Minister Alexandros Dermetzopoulos, Deputy Interior Minister Giorgos Dolios and MP Marinos Ouzounidis.

The Ecumenical Patriarch referred to the area's rich ecclesiastical history, in his address, and to the historical and strong connections it had with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He later went to the Greek Orthodox Church of Saints Theodore, where a celebratory liturgy is taking place.

Earlier, on his way to Orestiada, the church leader stopped at a border guardhouse and blessed the officers and soldiers there.