This post was originally published on this site
Orthodox Christians arrived yesterday in Constantinople to participate in the pilgrimage, “A Journey to Meet the Ecumenical Patriarch & the Pope of Rome,” taking place from Nov. 26-Dec. 1, 2025, which coincides with the Thronal Feast of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Feast of Saint Andrew the First-Called Apostle.
The pilgrimage, led by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, is distinct because it marks the first visit of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, a moment described as both historic and deeply symbolic for relations between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
> Previously: Why is Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Türkiye important for the Orthodox Church?
On Thursday morning, pilgrims chose between a visit to the Grand Bazaar or a guided tour of Hagia Sophia, the former Byzantine cathedral whose vast dome and shifting religious identity continue to stir powerful emotions. As pilgrims gathered outside, the call to prayer could be heard on loudspeakers and throughout the space once filled with the vibrant sights and sounds of Orthodox liturgy.
Tour guide Arman detailed the long arc of the building’s history: from its construction under Emperor Justinian I nearly 1,500 years ago, beginning a millennium as the spiritual center of Eastern Christianity, to its more recent shift in status from mosque to museum back to mosque over the past 100 years.
He paused beside the few surviving mosaic icons that remain visible including a mosaic of the Virgin Mary, Christ Pantocrator, and St. John the Baptist, tucked high on an upper gallery, spared from the plaster that conceals most others.
For Chrystal and George Thomas of Cleveland, the sight was overwhelming.
“It’s my third time in Constantinople,” Chrystal said, her voice catching.
“Every time I’m here, I think of the beauty behind the plaster—what’s underneath, what’s hidden. Those black circles on the walls… I can’t help but wonder what was covered up.”
The Vlahakos family of Houston—George, his wife, Christie, and their three children Ellie, Anna, and William—chose to spend Thanksgiving in the city that looms so large in Orthodox memory. Ellie, a senior majoring in art history at Vanderbilt University, said she struggled to reconcile the spiritual and political layers of the site.
“I have such mixed emotions coming to Hagia Sophia,” she said. “It’s an important place historically and spiritually. But the fact that it is now a mosque…it is distressing.”
“And yet it remains a Church. It was consecrated and given to God — who can take that away?”
The pilgrims, numbering more than 100 in total, will gather Thursday evening for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner hosted by AHEPA.
On Saturday and Sunday, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit the Ecumenical Patriarchate and His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, attending Great Vespers for the Feast Day of Saint Andrew and the Divine Liturgy, both at Venerable Patriarchal Church of St. George.
The post Orthodox pilgrims converge on Constantinople appeared first on Orthodox Observer.
