WARSAW (CNS): Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople pledged solidarity with Ukrainians forced to flee their country and thanked neighbouring Poland for showing “generosity, charity and hospitality” since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.
“I am here to show solidarity and join in prayer with millions of refugees who’ve been displaced by this unjustifiable aggression and the violence unleashed by Russia against sovereign Ukraine,” the ecumenical patriarch said during a visit to the Polish capital on March 28.
He said his three-day visit, which came at the invitation of Polish president, Andrzej Duda, and Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw, allowed him to “to meet and encourage all those displaying the essence of Christianity, which consists of loving neighbours and seeing Christ in each of them.”
The patriarch also expressed his hope that people worldwide would learn from the “true love and disinterested solidarity” shown by Poland, which has taken in 2.3 million Ukrainian refugees who have fled their homeland since the violence erupted.
Polish citizens, far from setting up refugee camps, he said, had “opened their homes” to “women and children, some orphaned and bereaved, as well as elderly people and even their accompanying pets.”
I am here to show solidarity and join in prayer with millions of refugees who’ve been displaced by this unjustifiable aggression and the violence unleashed by Russia against sovereign Ukraine
Patriarch Bartholomew
The patriarch, whose speech was carried by Poland’s Catholic Information Agency said, “All these refugees are under tremendous stress and trauma, marked by the past but also fearing for their future.”
He pointed out, “They are exposed to the specter of hunger and homelessness, but also to exploitation and human trafficking, and they need support and words of comfort. In this huge crisis, Poland has turned out to be—both the country and its people—a model of generosity, charity and hospitality to all those in need.”
The patriarch, recognised as “first among equals” by leaders of the world’s 15 main Orthodox Churches, arrived in Warsaw on March 27. He was scheduled to sign a declaration with Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan, president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, after a March 29 prayer service for peace.
In January 2019, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew signed a decree recognising an independent Church in Ukraine despite strong criticism from the Russian Orthodox Church, which sees Ukraine as part of its Church territory. Patriarch Kirill, in protest, excommunicated the ecumenical patriarch and severed communion with him and his followers.
Patriarch Bartholomew has repeatedly condemned Russia’s invasion. He urged an end to the “heinous war and all the accumulated calamities” in a homily in Istanbul on March 27 before travelling to Poland.
Every day, I watch the terrible images of this war on television, sympathising with the Ukrainian nation and admiring its heroic struggle and sacrifice
Patriarch Bartholomew
Poland’s Orthodox Church, headed by Metropolitan Sawa since 1998, has 504,000 members and 486 clergy, according to 2021 Polish government data. It is the country’s largest non-Catholic minority.
Meeting Ukrainian refugees on March 28 in St. John Climacus Orthodox Church in Warsaw, Patriarch Bartholomew said he had praised the stance of Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a February 27 telephone conversation as “a great inspiration for the entire Ukrainian nation in its struggle to maintain independence.”
The patriarch added, “Every day, I watch the terrible images of this war on television, sympathising with the Ukrainian nation and admiring its heroic struggle and sacrifice.”
Addressing Patriarch Bartholomew, Duda said his country was protecting Ukrainian civilians “fleeing from Russian bombing, aggression and death.”
The Polish president said that Poles, “as believing Catholics,” were grateful to the Orthodox leader for “spiritual support” and for “consistently and calmly indicating who are the victims in this terrible armed conflict.”
In a statement, the Polish Bishops’ Conference said Archbishop Gadecki met Pope Francis in a private audience on March 28 at the Vatican and discussed the “panorama of actions” taken by Polish Catholic charities, parishes and religious orders to help Ukrainian refugees. He also outlined his planned March 29 meeting with the patriarch.
