Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will address a banquet given in honor of the ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation in October of this year.
Pompeo, who served in the Trump administration, was a frequent visitor to Greece and the Middle East during his tenure at the White House.
He visited the ecumenical Patriarchate at the Phanar in Turkey on November 17, 2020 as part of his swing through Greece and Turkey.
During that visit, Pompeo reportedly did not have time to visit with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, something which raised a great deal of notice at the time. Turkey had several months earlier converted the holiest site in Orthodoxy, Hagia Sophia, into a mosque.
Pompeo toured Souda Bay While on Greek Visit in 2020
He did visit the American and Greek base at Souda Bay and was the guest of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his wife at their summer home on Crete.
On Friday, October 29, 2021, Pompeo will give the keynote address at the Founding Members Banquet of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation in New York City.
The Ecumenical Patriarch will be in attendance as part of his official visit to the United States. A statement from the Foundation says that Pompeo, whose wife is Greek Orthodox, will also discuss the persecution of Christians and the state of religious freedom around the world.
Patriarch Bartholomew will be honored for his historic 30-year ministry as Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church.
The former Secretary of State had met Archbishop Elpidophoros, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of the Americas, on September 24 of last year to discuss issues involving the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as well as Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus.
His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros announced in an official statement after it was revealed that Pompeo would address the banquet’s attendees “I am pleased that Secretary Pompeo is going to give the keynote address at the Founding Members Banquet.
“When we met in 2020, I was grateful for his ready ear to listen to concerns around security for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, peace in the Mediterranean, and the seizure of Aghia Sophia. He had sincere and informed concern for the rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and minorities in Turkey.”
Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, the National Commander of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and Chair of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation, said “Secretary Pompeo’s visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate last November was an honor for all those who love and revere the Mother Church of Constantinople.
“During his visit to the Phanar, the Secretary discussed with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew issues of fundamental rights and religious freedom. He is a superb choice to give the keynote address at the Founding Members Banquet.”
As part of a bold initiative of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, which is comprised of Archons, or lay leaders of the Church, the mission of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation is to grant economic independence to the Ecumenical Patriarchate so that it may fulfill its apostolic mission in perpetuity.
The founding members of the foundation have committed to ensuring the financial foundation of the Holy Mother Church the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople by pledging $100,000 over ten years.
The October banquet will held under the auspices of the Nicholas J. and Anna K. Bouras Foundation, which is itself a Founding Member of the Foundation. The Nicholas J. and Anna K. Bouras Foundation has pledged to match the founding member donation of each Metropolis of the Archdiocese of America, up to one million dollars.
This was made possible through the efforts of the National Secretary of the Order of Saint Andrew, the Hon. B. Theodore Bozonelis, who stated: “Secretary Pompeo’s meeting with His All-Holiness made clear his commitment to international religious freedom and understanding of the importance of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Church and the world. We look forward to his keynote address with joyful anticipation.”
The Foundation was established as an endowment by the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Archons state in their announcement of the banquet “Ours is a global mission and invitation for everyone across the various Eparchies of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to be united as one. Together, we can ensure that the Ecumenical Patriarchate – ‘the Light’ – continues to shine in the darkness.”
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