Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew meets with Polish President Andrzej Duda

"It is important that His Holiness accepted our invitation to Poland at this difficult time for our neighbors," said Polish President Andrzej Duda during a meeting with the Patriarch, according to the SFU.

"We are touched to see that His Holiness, as a weary pilgrim, comes to see and bless 2.3 million refugees from Ukraine who have come to our country - to comfort them, and pray for them," said Andrzej Duda at the beginning of the meeting.

The President thanked His Holiness for consistently and calmly pointing out who the victims of this terrible armed conflict are. During the meeting on Monday, Andrzej Duda stressed that this is a difficult time "for our brothers from Ukraine, who are now defending their homeland from Russian aggression."

The President noted that the wives and children of the defenders of Ukraine were granted asylum in Poland.

"They found refuge in our country, fleeing the war, fleeing Russian bombs, fleeing aggression and death," said Andrzej Duda.

At the same time, he said it is a great honor for Poles to receive the Ecumenical Patriarch in their country. "It is a great joy and a great honor for us," he added.

"Like You, Your Holiness, and like most of the free and just world, from the first day of Russia's attack on Ukraine, we know who is the victim and who is the aggressor," said the Polish President.

Andrzej Duda assured that all honest people on the Polish political scene express their deep gratitude to His Holiness for accepting the invitation to come to Poland at this difficult time. "And all believers in our country will join in the prayers offered by Your Holiness for peace and freedom of Ukraine," said the President of Poland.

He noted that in 2015, Bartholomew I arrived in Warsaw to consecrate the cornerstone of the Hagia Sophia Orthodox Church in Warsaw's Ursinów district.

"At that time, none of us imagined that with such a large community of people of the Orthodox faith as today, Your Holiness will pray here in Poland, for peace in the world, for peace in Ukraine, for peace of mind for his brothers and sisters." Said the President.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew arrived in Warsaw on the evening of March 27 to meet with the head of the Polish Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Sava.

Today His Holiness prayed at the tomb of Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland Dionizy, who headed the Orthodox Church in Poland when it received autocephaly from the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1924.