Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I, born Aristocles Matthaiou Spyrou, was the 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from November 1948, until his death in July 1972, serving as the primus inter pares and spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christianity worldwide.
![“I have waged this war against myself for many years. It was terrible, But now I am disarmed. [ opening lines, quoted in Jean Vanier's Finding Peace ]” quote by Athenagoras of Constantinople](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/624/athenagoras-of-constantinople_confessional-poem_i-have-waged-this-war-against-myself-for_3146448.jpg)