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The NCCA gathers together Churches and Christian communities which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures. We commit to deepen our relationship with each other and to work together towards the fulfilment of common witness, proclamation and service, to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew shines a ray of hope on Christian unity

Christian unity has been at the forefront of thought this year for both the churches of Rome and Constantinople. As they prepare to celebrate Easter simultaneously this year and look toward the coming celebrations for the anniversary of the first ecumenical council in Nicaea, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has suggested that the tensions between the two churches, referred to as the “Great Schism”, are “not insurmountable.”

The patriarch stated during an audience in Istanbul on 12 March with a pilgrimage group from the German Association of the Holy Land:

“Of course, problems have accumulated over a thousand years. But we are full of hope that they will be resolved in a few years…” Ecumenical Patriarch

Earlier in the year, during vespers that concluded the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis opined,

“Let us rediscover the common roots of the faith,” … “Let us preserve unity!”

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Pope Francis at an ecumenical prayer service for peace in Bahrain in 2022 (CNS/Vatican Media)

Read

Patriarch Bartholomew says 1054 church division ‘not insurmountable’ as Nicaea anniversary nears | CNA Newsroom, March 15 2025

Patriarch Bartholomew says Great Schism tensions ‘not insurmountable’ | CathNews |17 March 2025

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Pope Francis