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Papandreou meets
with Ecumenical Patriarch |
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"We are inspired" by the initiatives of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said on Tuesday here, following his meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos. "These initiatives show the pioneering role of Orthodoxy in times of crisis," he said. He spoke of the intra-religious conference organized at the initiative of the Patriarchate in Brussels, as well as the initiative in the current European Union - Islamic Conference meeting. "This initiative Turkey undertook, for the meeting of the countries of the Islamic Conference with the countries of the EU is in a way a continuation of the initiatives we had undertaken earlier," Vartholomeos said, speaking to journalists after the meeting with Papandreou. "In our discussions with the Turkish side we are not forgetting the issues that matter to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and especially the issues of the Theological School of Halki and those of the Greek community," Papandreou said. "We hope that those issues will be confronted positively," Papandreou said, clarifying that these are not "bilateral issues, but international issues that concern the freedom of religion". Vartholomeos thanked the Greek minister and the Greek government for the continual support they provide to the Patriarchate and expressed the hope that the promoted Greek-Turkish dialogue will contribute to the confrontation of problems, such as the re-opening of the Halki School. "It is an issue of primary need, it is an issue for the present and the future of the Ecumenical Patriarchate," Vartholomeos said.
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 action@hec.greece.org
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