In the context of the traditional exchange of delegations for the respective feasts of the Patron Saints - on 29 June in Rome for the celebration of Saints Peter and Paul, and on 30 November in Istanbul for the celebration of Saint Andrew - Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, led the Holy See delegation for the feast of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, composed of the secretary of the Dicastery, Bishop Brian Farrell, and the under-secretary, Msgr. Andrea Palmieri. In Istanbul they were joined by the apostolic nuncio in Turkey, Archbishop Paul F. Russell.

The Holy See delegation took part in the solemn Divine Liturgy presided at by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in the patriarchal Church of Saint George, Phanar.

Cardinal Koch delivered to the Ecumenical Patriarch the Message written by the Holy Father, which he read publicly at the end of the divine liturgy.