Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I says there must be respect for the “inherent rights of all human beings and their aspiration and rights of religious freedom."

Leaders from five historic centres of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean region have met to discuss matters of regional and global concern.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I of Constantinople has left Russia after a 10-day visit praised by his hosts for strengthening relations with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Indifference in regard to Christian unity is not an option for the disciples of Jesus, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has stated in an encyclical issued on the occasion of the Sunday of Orthodoxy.