President Iohannis welcomes Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, BOR Patriarch Daniel

President Klaus Iohannis on Saturday welcomed Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople - New Rome, and Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR).

"Your Beatitude, your visit today together with His Holiness is a great pleasure to me," said Iohannis on this occasion.

"And to us it is an honour," said Daniel.

The meeting took place at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.

Bartholomew arrived in Bucharest on Friday, accompanied by a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, to participate in the events related to the consecration of Catedrala Mantuirii Neamului, the People's Salvation Cathedral, in Bucharest.

President Klaus Iohannis on Friday sent a letter to Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church indicating that he will not take part in the consecration of the People's Salvation Cathedral in Bucharest.

"Your Beatitude, thank you for the warm invitation to attend the ceremony of consecration of the People's Salvation Cathedral. Unfortunately, for reasons related to the European agenda, I will not be able to take part in the event on Sunday, November 25, 2018," Iohannis says in his letter.

President Iohannis emphasises that the consecration of the cathedral represents, for the Christian Orthodox believers in the country and diaspora, a celebration of a special historical and symbolic charge.

"The participation of Ecumenical Patriarch His Holiness Bartholomew I, along with the hierarchs of the sister Orthodox churches, reveals the deep connection that unites us in the spirit of Christian faith and values that the Church cultivates in society," reads the presidential letter.

The Romanian head of state will attend an extraordinary meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Sunday.