The Orthoflex Patriarch of Alexandria

I am sure that many of our readers have seen this photo or others like it, which show the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria Theodore II incensing Pope Leo XIV. (Purely by coincidence, the current Coptic Pope is called Tawadros, which is Coptic for Theodore, and is also the second of his name.) This was taken during a liturgy celebrated yesterday in the church of St George in the Phanar, the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople, during the Holy Father’s Apostolic visit to the New Rome, as part of the 17th centenary celebrations of the First Council of Nicaea. And yesterday was the feast of the Apostle St Andrew, who is honored as the founder of the see of Byzantium.

Note that His Beatitude is wearing a triple tiara almost identical to that which was traditionally worn by the Roman Popes, until it was cast off by Paul VI in one of those very modern and counter-productive gestures of which he was so inexplicably fond. A lot of memes have already come out of this, of which my favorite has the Pope saying, “Wait, was I supposed to bring mine too?”

Of course, I am not seriously suggesting that the Patriarch was deliberately flexing on the Pope by wearing his triregnum; it is just a normal part of his regalia, and has been for centuries. But at the same time, I cannot help but think of Pope St John Paul II’s oft-repeated words that “the Church must breathe with her two lungs”, i.e. the Eastern and Western churches, because one of the things the Roman Catholic Church desperately needs to relearn from the East is not to be ashamed of its own patrimony and traditions, but to embrace and cherish them once again. Εἰς πολλὰ ἔτη, Δέσποται!

The complete liturgy can be watched via the YouTube channel of Vatican Media.