Archbishop and patriarch to meet in Viotia on May 23

In a bid to bury a hatchet of sorts, Greek Archbishop Ieronymos will welcome Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios in Greece on May 23.

It will be the first meeting between the two church leaders after a long period during which they were reportedly not on speaking terms.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate said on Wednesday that Vartholomaios accepted an invitation by Ieronymos to attend the launch of a welfare institution in Viotia, central Greece.

The meeting will take place in the wake of recent court action filed with the Council of State against the Archbishopric of Athens over an estate on the outskirts of Athens.

However, relations between the two sides reportedly thawed after they adopted a common stance with regard to the government's proposal to change Greece's Constitution and the way way clerics are paid.