Ecumenical Patriarch hosts international youth conference

CONSTANTINOPLE-A group of about 15 delegates represented SYNDESMOS at the Conference of Orthodox Youth hosted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate here 18-25 June 2000 in commemoration of the 2000th year since the birth of Jesus Christ.
The conference was very successful and well or-ganised. His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, opened and closed the conference and visited with participants almost daily. He also made himself available to participants who wished to meet with him privately.
Most of the over 500 participants represented dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Greece, Turkey,Western Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia, and North America. The Ecumenical Patriarchate had also invited representatives from other Orthodox churches, monasteries, and theological schools. Representatives of the Oriental Churches, international ecumenical organizations,
including the WCC and KEK, and other Christian bodies were also present.
For most of the participants, the conference marked the first time they had participated in a Pan-Orthodox youth event. Participants stayed in luxurious hotels, took a cruise on the Bosphorus, and visited the renowned Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Palace of Topkapi, and the Church of the Savior in Chora. They also visited Nicea, site of the first Ecumenical Council.
Many keynote speeches were given during the conference on various themes, including "Youth, Ministry, and Monasticism," "Professional Orientation of Young People," "The Phenomena of HIV and Drugs," "What the Mother Tongue Signifies for Greeks Who Immigrate," "Relations between the Two Genders," "Unemployment," "War and Peace," "Social Justice and Human Rights," and "The Ecological Problem." His Eminence, Metropolitan Gennadios [Limouris], presided at the lectures. Many questions followed each presentation, and ensuing discussions were sometimes passionate, especially when discussing the issues of language, ethnic origins, the socalled "diaspora," and war and nationalism. The questions expressed the concerns of the Orthodox youth in such an accurate way, that many participants asked the organisers to have these questions printed in order to serve as a base for discussions on burning issues in today's Church.
As an important part of the programme the participants also attended two Divine Liturgies, one at Holy Trinity Cathedral on Taksim and the other at the Patriarchal Cathedral of Saint George in Phanar. An especially impressive moment took place when a group of about 200 youth recited the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in the remains of Nicea's Holy Wisdom Church, in which the first
portion of the Creed had been written.
SYNDESMOS is very grateful to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for hosting its representatives at this most memorable event.