His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon Congratulates Newly Elected Pope Leo XIV
On May 8, 2025, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon sent a letter of congratulations to the newly elected Pope Leo XIV.
“I write to congratulate Your Holiness upon your election to the See of Rome, the Chair of St. Peter. As the primate of the Orthodox Church in America, it is my special joy to congratulate Your Holiness as the first American pope.
As I greet your election with joy, it is my prayer that Your Holiness might, after the example of your universally venerated predecessor, St. Leo I the Great, always proclaim the Christian faith with boldness and zeal.
Furthermore, just as the faith of St. Leo, articulated at the Fourth Ecumenical Council, remains a bridge between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, it is my hope that, under your pontificate, our Churches might find continued opportunities for cooperation and dialogue as we all seek to proclaim the light-bearing Gospel of the Savior.”