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SPIRITUAL LEADER VISITS CITY
Draped in a bishop's gold-embroidered stole, with incense wafting around him, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Orthodox clergy from Europe and Asia entered a tomb at St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 on Friday and chanted an ancient prayer for the souls of New Orleanians, including those who perished during Hurricane Katrina.
Bartholomew and Orthodox clergy from France and Korea arrived at the 155-year-old cemetery shortly after 1 p.m. to pray for the dead.
Later they drove to the Lower 9th Ward to see recovery efforts there. Bartholomew, known for his efforts to highlight environmental concerns, is in New Orleans this week to host a global conference of policymakers, scientists and religious leaders on the plight of coastal Louisiana and the Mississippi River.
Climate scientists say Louisiana's story has implications for similar communities around the world.
Based in Istanbul, Bartholomew is the spiritual head of 250 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. He visited New Orleans in early 2006 to see the fresh wreckage of the Lower 9th Ward, and he returned Friday to see what has been accomplished since.
Before then, however, he visited the large, domed tomb erected in St. Louis No. 3 by Greek Orthodox New Orleanians in 1928.
Accompanied by clergy from France and Korea, as well as Archbishop Demetrios, the head of the Greek Orthodox community in North America, and Metropolitan Alexios, the regional leader from Atlanta, Bartholomew stepped into the open recess of the tomb and led the group in chanting the Trisagion, an ancient Greek memorial prayer.
Nearby, New Orleans businessman John Georges, one of Bartholomew's local hosts, and retired restaurateur John Koniditsiotis of Metairie joined in the prayer.
Koniditsiotis, 71, a native of Greece, brought the ritual incense and incense burner from Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, where Bartholomew will preside over the Divine Liturgy on Sunday at 10 a.m.
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Bruce Nolan can be reached at bnolan@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3344.
