“The Ecumenical Patriarchate is constantly praying for an end to violence and the establishment of a just peace,” said Patriarch Bartholomew, addressing the ongoing war in Ukraine.
His remarks came during his speech on Saturday, March 8, 2025, following the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint Theodore of the Community of Vlanga, which he presided over in the presence of Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv, Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Orthodox Times reports.
While welcoming His Beatitude to the celebrating community of the Archdiocese of Constantinople, the Ecumenical Patriarch recalled that he has been leading the Orthodox Church of Ukraine for several years, “the last three of them marked by the suffering of the bloody war that began on February 24, 2022, with the invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine. Throughout this tragic period, His Beatitude has stood by his flock, fighting for the rights of his people.”
He assured that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate is constantly praying for an end to the violence and for the establishment of a just peace, following the decisions of the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church (Crete, 2016), which condemned war ‘as a result of evil and sin in the world’ and emphasized that ”every war is a threat to the destruction of creation and life.”
The Synod strongly condemned wars inspired by “nationalism, provoking ethnic cleansing, altering state boundaries, and occupying territories.”
The Ecumenical Patriarchate strives to promote a spirit of dialogue, to consolidate the culture of peace and brotherhood, and to protect the sanctity of the human person and his fundamental rights. We firmly believe that the God of love, peace, and justice directs history, not the wrongdoers.”
On March 9, on the occasion of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, Patriarch Bartholomew, in concelebration with Metropolitan Epifaniy and other bishops, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Phanar.