During his visit to Lourdes, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew unequivocally condemned Russia's war against Ukraine, noting in particular that this aggression and attempts to give it a sacred character are dragging the Russian people into an “abyss of impiety.”
This was reported by Orthodox Times, according to Spiritual Greatness of Lviv.
Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew addressed the General Assembly of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in France, urging Christians to confront contemporary challenges with humility, cooperation, and a renewed desire for unity.
He began by recalling his first visit to Lourdes in 1995 and the long journey toward reconciliation between Catholics and Orthodox Christians. He highlighted the hopes of his predecessors and the continuous guidance of the Mother of God. The Patriarch emphasized that Lourdes serves as a reminder that God “works miracles” among the humble and inconspicuous, reconciling both body and soul while restoring hope amid the “materialism, positivism, and atheism” that characterized previous eras and whose echoes persist today.
Addressing the politicization of religion, Bartholomew condemned ethnophyletism — the sacralization of ethnicity — as a “modern heresy” that was rejected by the Council of Constantinople in 1872.
He spoke directly about the situation in Ukraine, stating, “We ourselves, exercising the prerogatives of primacy that belong to us canonically and historically, granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, thus ensuring for the faithful of that country the flourishing of their Christian life in freedom of conscience, confession, and expression.”
The Patriarch categorically condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine, stating that Moscow's actions forge a “new alliance between throne and altar” that is “fundamentally contrary to the Gospel and Orthodoxy.” He warned that the Russian people were being drawn “into the abyss of impiety.” “By attacking Kyiv, Moscow has, in its own words, launched a 'crusade' that unites temporal and spiritual powers in an unjust war of senseless cruelty — a war that, tragically, drags Russia, a nation once deeply pious, into an abyss of impiety,” he said.
He added, “This new alliance between throne and altar is fundamentally contrary to the Gospel and to Orthodoxy. The tragedy of Ukrainian women and children, who daily endure a torrent of bombs and missiles, is also our tragedy.”
The Patriarch viewed it as a sign of moral awakening that, like the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the State, the Church, and public opinion in France recognize that what is at stake here is the future of Europe, its integrity not only territorial but also moral.
He also addressed young people — whom he referred to as the “living present” of the Church — stating that their faith, energy, and service demonstrate the enduring impact of the Gospel. He called on pastors to “pray, listen, and guide” young people, so their hope may become an instrument of spiritual renewal and unity. Drawing once again from Lourdes, he reiterated the Virgin Mary's call to “penitence” and prayer, asking for discernment, patience, and humility to be authentic witnesses of the crucified and risen Christ “for the life of the world.”