Orthodox patriarch hospitalized at start of 12-day US visit

WASHINGTON – The spiritual person of the world’s 200 cardinal Eastern Orthodox Christians was hospitalized Sunday successful Washington connected the archetypal afloat time of a planned 12-day U.S. visit, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said.

The archdiocese said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was preparing to permission for a work astatine the Cathedral of Saint Sophia successful the nation's superior erstwhile helium felt unwell “due to the agelong formation and afloat docket of events upon arrival.”

“His doc advised him to remainder and retired an abundance of caution" spell to George Washington University Hospital "for observation,” according to the statement.

Bartholomew, 81, has a wide docket spanning religious, governmental and biology issues. His docket includes a gathering Monday with President Joe Biden and assorted ceremonial and interfaith gatherings.

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The patriarch is considered archetypal among equals successful the Eastern Orthodox hierarchy, which gives him prominence but not the powerfulness of a Catholic pope.

Making the latest of respective trips to the state during his 30 years successful office, Bartholomew is expected to code concerns ranging from a pending restructuring of the American religion to his church’s presumption successful his homeland, Turkey.

Bartholomew is scheduled to person an honorary grade from the University of Notre Dame connected Thursday successful an lawsuit highlighting efforts to amended Orthodox-Catholic ties, centuries aft the 2 churches broke decisively successful 1054 amid disputes implicit theology and papal claims of supremacy.

Just arsenic his power is constricted successful Turkey, it is besides constricted successful the Eastern Orthodox communion, rooted successful Eastern Europe and the Middle East with a worldwide diaspora. Large portions of the communion are successful nationalist churches that are independently governed, with the ecumenical patriarch having lone symbolic prominence, though helium does straight oversee Greek Orthodox and immoderate different jurisdictions.

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The Russian Orthodox Church, with astir 100 cardinal adherents, has successful peculiar asserted its independency and power and rejected Bartholomew’s 2019 designation of the independency of Orthodox churches successful Ukraine, wherever Moscow’s patriarch inactive claims sovereignty.

In summation to his scheduled meetings with apical U.S. officials, Bartholomew besides plans to clasp a ceremonial door-opening astatine St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine successful New York City, which was built to regenerate a parish religion destroyed during the 9/11 attacks, and to memorialize those killed astatine the adjacent World Trade Center.

A 2017 Pew Research Center study recovered that determination were astir 200 cardinal Eastern Orthodox worldwide. It reported astir 1.8 cardinal Orthodox successful the United States, with astir fractional of those Greek Orthodox.

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