The Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew met on Tuesday March 29 in Warsaw with Ukrainian refugees to show them his solidarity and denounce Russian aggression against their country.
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During a speech at the Stefan Wyszynski Catholic University, he described
as “unimaginable
” the destruction caused “
by this horrible invasion, in the Ukrainian nation and in the whole world
”.
Arrived in Poland at the invitation of President Andrzej Duda, whom he met on Monday, he had denounced the same day the war in Ukraine "
unjust
" and "
unfounded
".
"
If any war deserves condemnation, a war between Orthodox is absolutely unacceptable
", said the 82-year-old religious dignitary who came to an Orthodox church in Warsaw to pray for peace, before deploring "
the crisis of unity
" currently going through Orthodox Christians.
Division among Orthodox
National Orthodox churches are autocephalous, but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognized as their spiritual authority on a global scale.
In Ukraine, the population, largely Orthodox, is divided between the faithful of the Moscow Patriarchate and those of the new independent Church of Russian guardianship.
Patriarch Bartholomew formally recognized the independence of the latter in January 2019, which provoked a violent reaction from the Moscow Orthodox hierarchy.
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The latter saw in it a "
schism
" and broke all its ties with Constantinople.
Today, its leader, Patriarch Kirill, justifies the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A majority of national Orthodox churches have gradually recognized the Ukrainian Church, but the Polish Church has so far refrained.
On Tuesday Bartholomew was received by the President of the Polish Catholic Episcopate, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki.
The latter called for "
spiritual and ecumenical solidarity with the martyred nation of Ukraine
", denouncing "
the irrepressible thirst for domination and the contempt for life and human dignity which have resurrected the destructive demons of the past
".
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