Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on Wednesday spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the latter thanking the “primus inter pares” of the world’s Orthodox Primates for sending an official ecclesiastical delegation to Kiev to attend Ukraine’s independence day celebrations on Saturday.
The Ecumenical Patriarch spoke from his native island of Imbros (Gökçeada), in the northeast Aegean, where he is passing a portion of his summer retreat.
According to reports, President Zelensky also expressed gratitude for the warm reception extended to an official Ukrainian delegation during its recent visit to the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
On his part, His All Holiness expressed his fervent hope for a swift restoration of peace in Ukraine, while reiterating the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s support for the Ukrainian people amid the ongoing conflict.
Bartholomew signed the tomos – a codified decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Holy Synod – that officially recognized and established the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in January 2019, granting the specific national Church autocephaly (self-governorship).
The historic decision was bitterly opposed by the Russian Orthodox Church, or Moscow Patriarchate, leading to a break in communion between the latter and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Putin government also vehemently criticized the decision.
