The visit to Italy of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, ended on 15 May with a prayer at the tomb of Joseph II in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. It began on 13 May with the liturgy of Vespers in the Orthodox rite in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and continued with the inauguration of a new Orthodox parish in the city (in the church of San Jacopo Soprarno placed at the disposal of the Orthodox community by the Florentine diocese) and a reception in the Palazzo Pitti at which the Patriarch was awarded the “Galileo 2000 Prize” for peace. During the visit, the Mayor of Florence Leonardo Domenici and Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, Archbishop of the city, announced to Bartholomew that the mortal remains of Patriarch Joseph II, who died during the Council of Florence in 1439, will be returned to the Orthodox Church in Istanbul. “We are grateful – said Bartholomew I – to all those who decided to restore to us our patriarch, who came here for a sacred cause: the union between our sister Churches. Now we await with great joy and great honour the visit of His Holiness Benedict XVI in November”.
