During his visit to Lithuania, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew demonstrated through his words, decisions, and personal presence that he has a deep understanding of the situation, closely follows the life of Lithuania’s Orthodox faithful, and sincerely supports them.

This was stated in an interview with Delfi by Gintaras Sungaila, a cleric of the Lithuanian Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

According to the priest, both the clergy and the faithful were delighted to have the opportunity to pray together with their Patriarch.

“Many people did not expect that after his 2023 visit the Patriarch would return so soon. In 2023 there was no Divine Liturgy with him because he came to establish the Exarchate. We did not expect that he would visit us again so quickly and that we would be able to pray together. His second visit brought us great joy,” the cleric emphasized.

He recalled that the visit took place shortly after the ordination of the new Bishop Panaret.

“The Patriarch essentially came to introduce him to us. Before that, the Exarch had been a hieromonk, a priest. In a very short period of time, we witnessed the ordination of the first cleric from among the faithful of the Exarchate and the appointment of our own bishop. This is a significant step forward,” the priest said.

According to him, much has changed within Lithuania’s Orthodox community over the past three years.

“During the Patriarchal service, the church was filled to capacity, with people even standing outside. Let us remember what the situation was like three years ago, when we effectively did not have a single permanent place of worship. The priests who had severed ties with the Moscow Patriarchate had only just been restored to the priesthood. A Church in its formative stage requires many things. We had no vestments, no liturgical vessels, and many other essential items. Some of those things were personally donated to us by His All-Holiness. Today we already have parishes, places of worship, church furnishings, and an active ecclesiastical life that continues to develop. Most importantly, we now have a church filled with worshippers. For us, this is evidence that people are interested in the life of the Exarchate and support its development,” Sungaila said.