Orthodox Christian leader tests positive for COVID-19

The spiritual leader of the world’s 250 million Orthodox Christians was in “good” condition after testing positive for the coronavirus, his office said Friday.

Eighty-one-year-old Patriarch Bartholomew I has been battling ill health in the past few months.

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The Istanbul-based patriarch underwent a heart stent operation in New York in November, and was hospitalized for a night after flying to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington in October.

The patriarch tested positive for the coronavirus during a routine checkup in Istanbul, his office said.

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“His All-Holiness, who is fully vaccinated, is currently showing mild symptoms, but his general condition is good,” it said in a statement on Facebook.

Elected in 1991, Bartholomew has been outspoken on the environment and has cultivated closer relations both with Islam and Roman Catholicism.

In 2013, he attended the investiture of Pope Francis, the first patriarch to do so since the 1054 schism between Byzantium and Rome.

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