On the evening of Friday, December 7, Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and New Rome, who had just met with President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, returned to St. Nicholas Cathedral and joined in a farewell dinner with the faithful of the Orthodox Church in Korea. We congratulated and welcomed all of the professors who successfully completed the international symposium on ecology and the environment as well as their historic meeting with the President of South Korea. The faithful expressed their deep respect and honor of having His All Holiness among them for the week and they exchanged words of gratitude and gifts. The patriarch also expressed his warm gratitude for the hospitality of the Korean Orthodox faithful.
The beauty and excitement of the dinner was added to with a performance of traditional Korean music. HAH enjoyed traditional Korean pansori, gayageum, and folk songs. Concluding the performances was an impromptu performance by Fr. Vissarion and the traditional Korean drummer.
Ending the evening, HAH visited the St. Nicholas book cafe and then said his farewells to the Korean Orthodox faithful.