On the future of Rome-Constantinople "ecumenical dialogue" under a new pope
From Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew, we have heard many statements about the rapprochement of the Churches and even the imminent intercommunion. What will happen to this process under the new pontiff?
On May 7, 2025, a conclave will be held in the Sistine Chapel, during which the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will elect a new pope. This event is significant not only for Catholics but also for us, the Orthodox – especially in the light of the ecumenical dialogue between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the RCC, which has become extremely active over the past years.
However, Pope Francis's illness and subsequent death on the second day of Pascha rendered all these "dialogical" efforts somewhat futile – since it is entirely unknown who will become the new pope and what position he will take on the issue of "unity" with the Orthodox. It is precisely for this reason that on May 6, 2025, speaking before a group of Catholic and Anglican theologians, Patriarch Bartholomew stated, "With the blessed Pope Francis, we recently tried to reach an agreement on celebrating Pascha, always, for eternity, by all Christians together on the same day. Unfortunately, our efforts were not completed, but we hope the new pope will be inclined, like the late Francis, to achieve this historic event."
So what should we, the Orthodox, expect from the new pope, and are there prospects for continuing the dialogue for the unification of the Orthodox and Catholics, which has been ongoing for several decades?
The history of negotiations on the date of Pascha
The initiator of the idea of uniting Christians based on the reform of the church calendar (including a unified date for Pascha) in the 20th century was not Patriarch Bartholomew. The first to voice this idea was Ecumenical Patriarch Meletius (Metaxakis), who, even as the Archbishop of Athens, held active negotiations with representatives of the Anglican Church.
In 1921, after his expulsion from Athens, Archbishop Meletius arrived in the United States and co-served with Anglican representatives. According to the Greek ambassador to the United States, Meletius "in full vestments participated in an Anglican service, bowed with Anglicans in prayer, kissed their altar, preached, and later blessed those present."
After being elected Patriarch of Constantinople, fulfilling the expectations of his English patrons (who brought him to Istanbul on a warship), he officially recognized the validity of Anglican ordinations and began active preparations for union with the Anglican Church. At the so-called Pan-Orthodox Congress (May 10 – June 8, 1923), chaired by Meletius, Anglican Bishop Charles Gore participated, taking a seat to the right of the Patriarch. It was here that the calendar reform – the introduction of the New Julian calendar – was proclaimed as a key step towards rapprochement between the Orthodox Church and the Anglicans, along with measures aimed at maximizing the alignment of church practices with Western rites (e.g., permitting the remarriage of priests).
Patriarch Meletius, who did not hide his membership in the Masonic lodge, did not succeed at the time, but his endeavor did not die. In 1965, the world witnessed an epochal event – the lifting of the anathemas. At that time, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I annulled the mutual excommunicationes (Latin – "excommunications," "exclusions from communion") of 1054, which became a symbolic beginning of dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox. However, Patriarch Athenagoras also failed to reach an agreement with the Catholics. Then came the "Rhodes Pan-Orthodox Conference," where discussions on ecumenism continued within the Orthodox circle.
After that, on November 30, 1979, during Pope John Paul II's visit to the Phanar, an agreement was reached to establish a Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the RCC and the Orthodox Church. The work of this commission resulted in a series of agreements between the Churches, such as the Agreement on the Trinity and the Eucharist as a common foundation of faith (1980, Munich); the Recognition of Apostolic Succession and Ordination as the basis of Church structure (1988, Valaam). Several sessions were also dedicated to the issue of "primacy and synodality in the Church," as a result of which the Vatican issued a document challenging papal primacy.
In 1993, the dialogue commission prepared the so-called "Balamand Declaration." In this document, Catholics renounced proselytism and uniatism as methods for achieving unity between the RCC and Orthodoxy, while the Orthodox, for the first time, recognized the legitimacy of the so-called "Eastern Catholic Churches." Moreover, the document stated that both Churches are bearers of salvation, and unity is possible only "in a meeting in truth and love." However, the "Balamand Declaration" remained a working document and was never officially signed. It is worth noting that the Joint Commission also discussed the question of a common celebration of Pascha – but without concrete decisions.
Dialogue between Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew (2014–2025)
With the arrival of Pope Francis and the active stance of Patriarch Bartholomew, the dialogue between the RCC and the Orthodox received new momentum. In 2014, in Jerusalem, just a few months after Pope Francis took office as head of the RCC, Patriarch Bartholomew signed a declaration with him that clearly emphasized the need for unity and a common date for Pascha as a step towards "reconciliation" between the Churches. This date can be considered the starting point for calendar discussions.
From that moment, the tone of statements about the need for "unity" between the Orthodox and Catholics grew as the Church approached April 2025—when the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council was to be celebrated, and the Catholic and Orthodox Pascha coincided.
Already in 2015, Pope Francis stated that "a common date for Pascha is a gift of unity. It will strengthen reconciliation between Christian Churches and enhance our witness in the world." Later, after talks about a common date for Pascha, the pope began speaking about the necessity of joint communion: "We can be grateful to God that relations between the Catholic Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate have significantly grown over the past century, although we are still moving toward the goal of restoring full communion, expressed through participation in a united Eucharistic table."
In turn, Patriarch Bartholomew declared that every personal meeting "with brother Pope Francis is a special experience of brotherhood," which strengthens the desire on both sides "to walk hand in hand, fighting on the path to the common Chalice of the Eucharist."
Quite recently, in January 2025, the Ecumenical Patriarch announced that "in May 2025, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church, would celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council with a joint celebration in Nicaea." However, as we know, these plans were not destined to come to fruition.
Uncertainty or continuation of the "dialogue"?
We have delved so deeply into the history of ecumenical relations between Catholics and Orthodox for a reason. Looking at it from a historical perspective, it becomes evident that the dialogue between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the RCC has passed through several stages: from the lifting of the anathemas in 1965, regular meetings of church leaders (popes and the Ecumenical Patriarch), theological exchanges, the transfer of relics (for example, fragments of the relics of Apostle Peter, which the Pope sent to Istanbul) – to discussions about a common celebration of Pascha and intercommunion.
These stages demonstrate a gradual rapprochement (in incremental steps) between the RCC and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. And if Pope Francis were still alive, it would have been easy to predict how all this would end. But now he is gone – so what now? Can we say that the RCC and the Ecumenical Patriarchate need to start everything from scratch? Of course not. Because, as we have seen,
the development of ecumenical dialogue, in general, does not depend on the subjective preferences of individual popes or the Ecumenical Patriarch. Meletius, Athenagoras, Bartholomew – all of them took certain steps towards the Catholics, and they reciprocated.
So, it is unlikely that this movement will stop with the arrival of a new pope.
The question is different. The fact is that Francis had excellent personal relations with Patriarch Bartholomew, and it was precisely these, not least of all, that contributed to the rapid development of events towards "unity." Will the new pope have such good relations with the head of the Ecumenical Patriarchate? Will he be ready to "humble himself" as Pope Francis did (remember the photo where Bartholomew kissed his bowed head)? Unlikely. Thus, the death of Pope Francis in 2025 creates a kind of transitional period – since no one knows how the new pope will act, whether he will continue the "ecumenical" line or take a pause, focusing on the enormous problems within the RCC.
We can also assume that if the new pope is a supporter of conservative ideas (and not a liberal like Francis), then among his priorities, the question of "unity" with the Ecumenical Patriarchate on its (Phanar's) terms will certainly not be present. There is no doubt that a conservative pope will be extremely cautious towards the "synodal" ideas of the late Francis and will think a hundred times over the dogmatic issues that separate the RCC and Orthodoxy. Questions of papal primacy, Filioque, and others remain unresolved despite years of effort. Without their resolution, any "unification," including a common date for Pascha, will be ephemeral and short-lived. And it is far from certain that the new pope, whoever he may be, will be willing to turn a blind eye to dogmatics or declare that the Churches are only divided by "historical problems."
Moreover, the Ecumenical Patriarchate itself, despite all statements about "intercommunion," is hardly ready for it. The "Ukrainian question" has already divided the Local Churches. Add to this the different attitudes among Orthodox towards "gender issues," migration, and ecology, and you will understand that "unity" with the Catholics is a beautiful myth that is unlikely to be realized in the coming years – if only because if the Phanar still goes for its realization, we could be talking about a new Great Schism in Orthodoxy.
That is why we dare to assume that the dialogue between the RCC and the Ecumenical Patriarchate under the new pope will continue, but no "explosions" or "sensations" should be expected from it. The commissions will continue to work, but they will mainly deal with secondary issues, creating the appearance of "movement towards each other." And no matter how much the sides talk about the need to celebrate the Eucharist together or to mark all major Christian holidays together, nothing serious will come of it – at least until the Churches resolve the main problems that divide them.
Thus, while the dialogue may continue, it will most likely focus on peripheral matters – mutual theological discussions, symbolic gestures of unity, and shared declarations on social and moral issues. However, the grand visions of a united Pascha date, common Eucharistic celebrations, and ecclesiastical unification are still far from reach.
