Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I met with UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Anany at the organization’s headquarters in Paris on March 30, in a visit described by church and Greek diplomatic sources as aimed at strengthening cultural and civilizational cooperation between the Orthodox Church and international institutions.
According to these sources, the meeting formed part of a broader engagement highlighting the cultural and religious role of the Orthodox Church in dialogue with international bodies. Participants included Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, Metropolitan Dimitrios of France, Archimandrite Aetios, director of the patriarch’s private office, and Greece’s permanent representative to UNESCO, Ambassador Georgios Koumoutsakos.
Following the meeting, Koumoutsakos hosted an official reception in honor of the patriarch at UNESCO headquarters, attended by numerous permanent representatives of member states and other officials, reflecting the patriarch’s religious and cultural standing, according to those sources.
UNESCO has not issued an official press release on the meeting. However, Director-General El-Anany confirmed the encounter in a social media post, describing it as an “honour” to receive the patriarch at the organization’s headquarters.
No comparable meetings between the Ecumenical Patriarch and UNESCO leadership have been publicly documented in recent years, with the last recorded instance dating to 2014.
Bartholomew is currently on a visit to France, where he has met with French President Emmanuel Macron and the prime minister, and visited several historical and religious landmarks.
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Source: https://www.wataninet.com/2026/04/%D8
https://x.com/UNESCO_DG/status/2038642000010805547?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://archons.org/flickr_collection_album/his-all-holiness-visits-unesco/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
