Thessaloniki religious summit to go ahead
Despite the best efforts of Thessaloniki Church authorities, a meeting between Greek Orthodox and Jewish religious leaders is to go ahead in the northern port city next week. The summit, an initiative by Istanbul-based Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios to improve relations between the world’s three main monotheistic religions, will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on May 27-28. The main aim is to help establish world peace through defusing religious and national tensions. Vartholomaios will be attending along with Israel Singer, the president of the World Jewish Congress. In February, Panteleimon, Bishop of Thessaloniki, had said that he was «in the happy position to announce» that, following his intervention, the meeting had been «definitely canceled.» He did not expound.
