Message of His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the journal Contacts

This article reproduces the message addressed by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to Michel Stavrou, managing editor of the journal *Contacts*, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of its founding in 1949. It takes the form of an official patriarchal message, dated March 7, 2009. The Patriarch traces the history of the journal, from its founders Jean Balzon and Germaine Revault d'Allonnes to the theologians who ensured its refounding in 1959, notably Élisabeth Behr-Sigel, Olivier Clément, Boris Bobrinskoy and Nicolas Lossky. The central idea is that *Contacts* has fulfilled an essential theological service by disseminating Orthodox thought in the French language to a wide audience. On the ecclesiological level, the message emphasizes the journal's vocation to promote the unity of Orthodox Christians of various backgrounds in the West, ecumenical dialogue and encounter with the contemporary world.