Forty Years Later: The Sacrilege in Assisi Continues

The Ecumenical Patriarch in Assisi

October 27, 2026

 

 

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew participated today, Tuesday, October 27, 2026, in the International Meeting for Peace in Assisi, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the historic gathering convened in 1986 by Pope John Paul II.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was the guest of honor at the international gathering entitled “An Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” organized in Assisi by the Catholic Community of Sant’Egidio. During his address at the forum entitled “The Ecumenical Patriarchate: From the East to a United World,” the Primate of Orthodoxy emphasized that “the Church which proclaims the Resurrection must, at the same time, proclaim peace.”

“Where new walls of division are erected, the Church has an obligation to pray, to mediate, and to rebuild relationships. We must have confidence that the human person—every human person, without discrimination—will remain the central point of reference,” added His All-Holiness Bartholomew, who once again made it clear that “skin color, language, religion, or sex can neither add anything to nor detract anything from the dignity of a human being created in the image of the Lord.”

Referring to the path that all hope will lead to the restoration of Christian unity, the Ecumenical Patriarch emphasized from Assisi: “We long for that day as the watchman longs for the morning.”

In his address, historian Andrea Riccardi, who founded the Community of Sant’Egidio forty years ago, emphasized, among other things, that “during the thirty-five years of his Patriarchate, Bartholomew has never sought power,” but rather “has planted seeds that will likely bear fruit even after we are gone.” He also recalled that Pope Francis had, in essence, dedicated his Encyclical on the protection of Creation, Laudato si’, to his brother in Christ, Bartholomew, in recognition of the great contribution of the “Green Patriarch.”

“He immediately understood the importance of dialogue. Bartholomew’s friends and followers are found throughout the world, because he has succeeded in forming one great family worldwide,” Andrea Riccardi also said.

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Marseille and President of the French Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, stated that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate, first under Athenagoras and subsequently under Bartholomew, has demonstrated that it is possible to bear witness beyond national borders, choosing reconciliation even under complex circumstances, in which Christian communities are more vulnerable.”

The international gathering entitled “An Unarmed and Disarming Peace” concluded with the screening of a recorded video message from Pope Leo (three days earlier, his doctors had advised him not to travel to Assisi in order to complete his recovery) and with a prayer specifically for the establishment of peace.

 

Greek source:

https://fosfanariou.gr/index.php/2026/10/27/o-oikoumenikos-patriarchis-stin-asizi-vinteo/