BALAMAND, LEBANON – His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel Geron of Chalcedon visited His Beatitude Patriarch Ioannis of Antioch at his patriarchal residence in Balamand Lebanon.  Among issues discussed were the uncanonical; “invasion” of the Church of Russia to the jurisdiction of the ancient Patriarch of Alexandria.

Metropolitan Emmanuel delivered a letter of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew inviting Patriarch Ioannis of Antioch to participate in a Synaxis of the ancient (πρεσβυγενή) Patriarchates to be convened before Holy Week at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Phanar.

The Patriarchate of Antioch issued the following announcement:

“His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, received His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, envoy of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, at the patriarchal residence in Balamand. The Elder Metropolitan carried an invitation to participate in the meeting of the four Apostolic Patriarchates, proposed to be held before the Great Lent and Holy Week in Constantinople, to discuss the issues facing the Orthodox Church. The meeting raised the discussion about the historical relations uniting the Churches of Antioch and Constantinople, as well as the overall emerging issues.

The meeting was attended by Metropolitan Elias Kfoury (Tyre and Sidon) and Ephraim Kyriakos (Tripoli and Koura).”