The Ecumenical patriarch welcomed the Federal Government’s recent investment into a new Antipodes Centre for Greek culture, heritage and language in Melbourne.
Prime minister, Julia Gillard, met with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I in Constantinople.
The patriarch also expressed appreciation for the Gillard government’s recent grant to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia to help complete the second phase of the Bribie Island Youth Campus.
Both the Patriarch and the Prime Minister praised the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Australia Stylianos.
Before the meeting, Ms Gillard told reporters that the patriarch is “a significant religious figure … for so many Australians. He is also a man with a keen interest in environmental questions and the future of our planet and I will be speaking to him about those environmental issues,” she said.
Ms Gillard, was in Istanbul after attending ANZAC Day commemorations at Gallipoli.
Ms Gillard spent Thursday afternoon in the Turkish capital Ankara, where she was due to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, before leaving for Australia.
