Cyprus bishop: "Peoples of the earth must unite and stop the war in Ukraine"

Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos. Photo: romfea.gr

Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kikkos of the Cyprus Orthodox Church believes that all nations should unite to stop the war in Ukraine.

In his sermon on the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (September 8 according to the new calendar), Metropolitan Nikiforos criticized the "great moral collapse brought about by modern scientific and technological civilization, which, in its madness, destroys all aspirations for spirituality and metaphysical concerns."

All of this, according to the hierarch of the Church of Cyprus, leads to people losing interest in eternity because they no longer believe in it.

"This is why we live in a society marked by vulnerability, distrust, insecurity, and ever-growing violence. In our time, war remains our sad fate, and the shadow of death weighs heavily on the souls of each one of us," the bishop said.

He emphasized that "today, not one nation trembles while shedding brotherly blood in oceans," but humanity on a global scale behaves like ostriches, "closing its eyes to danger and pretending that it doesn't exist."

"And yet, at this critical moment in history, when new geopolitical, geostrategic, and geoeconomic interests are reshaping the world and threatening with a global nuclear war, there is a need for a global mobilization of all the peoples of the Earth to stop the ongoing war in Ukraine," the Metropolitan declared.

He stressed that "now is not the time for illusions," and "all the peoples of the Earth must come together in a global pacifist movement, free from pursuing personal interests, and strive for the establishment of peace worldwide."

"For only peace in a consolidated and stable form will free today's person from the shuddering of death," he added, inviting all people to become peacemakers in practice, as the Lord desires, saying in His Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."

Previously, it was reported that according to Oleksiy Arestovich, the Pope justifies Russia's war against Ukraine.

Read also

MP demands answers from Rivne authorities over UOC charity event

Bobrovska expressed outrage that city officials allowed the Rivne Eparchy of the UOC to hold a charity festival that raised money for children with cancer.

Phanar backs common Easter date with Catholics and Protestants

Theologians of the Patriarchate of Constantinople have proposed revising calendar practice and bringing the celebration of Easter closer to the Western tradition.

DESS congratulates Ukraine’s Jews on Purim

The State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience addressed Ukraine’s Jewish community on the occasion of Purim.

Patriarch Bartholomew becomes honorary professor of ecology in Greece

The Ionian University of Greece has awarded Patriarch Bartholomew the honorary title of professor in its Department of Environment.

Phanar’s shift to new calendar triggered Orthodox schism – ROCOR hierarch

Metropolitan Mark called Constantinople’s adoption of the Gregorian calendar the main source of divisions in the Orthodox world.

Metropolitan of Berlin: The OCU is headed by a layman

The head of the ROCOR Diocese in Germany, Metropolitan Mark, said that the head of the OCU has neither a priestly nor an episcopal ordination.