|
On Tuesday, November 6, 2007, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew received the Honorable Sharon Anderholm Wiener, the new United States Consul General to Istanbul. Although the Consul General escorted Undersecretary Nicholas Burns on his visit to the Phanar this past September, this was the first opportunity for Mrs. Wiener to make an official visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate to meet His All Holiness.
During the 1 hour and 15 minute meeting, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew discussed in detail many of the problems facing the Ecumenical Patriarchate and its Greek Orthodox community in Istanbul. The Ecumenical Patriarch thanked the Consul General for the United States Government’s relentless concern and interest to continue to raise these issues with the Turkish Government.
On August 8, 2007 just prior to assuming her post in Istanbul, Dr. Wiener met with the Archon Leadership in Washington to discuss the religious freedom concerns of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and receive extensive material gathered by the Archons on this issue.
