Vatican City, May 31, 2014 / 00:34 am
In response to media reports that Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew I will meet for an ecumenical gathering in Nicea in 2025, the Vatican's spokesman said that such a meeting would be a positive encounter.
Father Federico Lombardi told CNA that a meeting between the two leaders "is a nice proposal from Bartholomew, just as his proposal for an encounter on the 50th anniversary meeting between Paul VI and Athenagoras I was."
Fr. Lombardi said that there are no further details at this time, but if Bartholemew I says the two have spoken about it, then "it's something they've just spoken about amongst themselves at this point."
"I wish good things for ecumenism," Fr. Lombardi added.