Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expressed his solidarity with Ukrainian refugees in Poland while meeting them today in Warsaw.

During his visit, the Patriarch denounced Russia’s attack on Ukraine in a speech at Stefan Wyszyński Catholic University, calling it “unthinkable”, adding the catastrophes were caused “by this horrific invasion of the Ukrainian nation and the world.”

The Ecumenical Patriarch arrived in Poland on Monday, at the invitation of President Andrzej Duda, with whom he met on Monday. In their conversation, he described the war as “unfair and unfounded”.

“All wars are reprehensible, but a war between orthodox people is completely unacceptable,” he said, visiting a Warsaw Orthodox church to pray for peace and lamenting the “unity crisis” facing Christians.

In Ukraine, the majority of the population is Orthodox, but they are divided between those who remain faithful to the Moscow Patriarchate and those who follow the new Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, whose autocephaly was granted by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Russian hierarchy considered this recognition a “schism” and severed all ties with Constantinople.

Most Orthodox Churches have gradually recognized the autocephaly of the new Ukrainian Church, but the Polish one has not yet taken a stand.

Today, the Ecumenical Patriarch also met with the President of the Catholic Diocese of Poland, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki. The latter called for “spiritual and ecumenical solidarity with the martyred Ukrainian nation” and denounced “the unbridled thirst for dominance and the contempt for human life and dignity revived by the destructive demons of the past.”

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