On the morning of Sunday, January 19, 2025, His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and All Scandinavia responded to the invitation of the Lutheran Bishop of the Swedish city of Vasteras, His Grace Mikael Mogren, to attend the ordinations of a deacon and two priests, and to participate in the discussion that followed, dedicated to the Ecumenical Week 2025, which will take place from August 20 to 24, 2025, in Stockholm, with the participation of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew . At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Metropolitan congratulated the Bishop and the newly ordained, conveyed the paternal blessings of Patriarch Bartholomew and offered them an icon and his book on the Patriarchal Visit to Stockholm in 2019. He also invited Bishop Mikael to attend the Divine Liturgy at the St.
George Cathedral of Stockholm, which will be presided over by the Ecumenical Patriarch, on Sunday, August 24. He then answered the questions submitted by the organizers of the panel discussion, briefly stating the following: Inter-Christian Dialogue is the duty of all of us. It is not a matter of luxury or choice, but an expression of an inner necessity, in order to get to know our brothers and sisters of other denominations, to understand them and to share with them our own beliefs, giving emphasis and priority to what brings us closer together and not to what divides us.
He reminded the listeners of Christ’s teaching on unity within the Church, as characteristically stat.