Patriarch Bartholomew again calls Ukraine-Russia war “fratricidal”

Patriarch Bartholomew in Bucharest. Photo: Nikos Papachristou

On October 26, 2025, speaking in Bucharest at a dinner organized in his honor by the Alexandrion Foundation, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople once again referred to the ongoing war in Ukraine as “fratricidal.”

“We grieve over the continuing fratricidal war against Ukraine by the Russian Federation. And from the first moment we have called for its immediate cessation. We must stand against using our Holy Faith for purely political gains,” the Patriarch said.

He also commented on the situation in the Middle East and the recent tragedy in Gaza: “While we praise the peacemaking efforts of the US President Donald J. Trump, we must all intensify our efforts to build bridges rather than destroy homes. The fate of Christianity in the land that gave birth to our Savior hangs in the balance,” he stated.

The Patriarch further assured that the Ecumenical Patriarchate is “a trans-national purely spiritual institution whose force comes from the power of love rather than the love of power.” Therefore, he added, the Patriarchate is “committed to peaceful resolutions to the conflicts that afflict our world based in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, rather than to solutions that look only to secular political means.”

Earlier, Patriarch Bartholomew had already described the war between Russia and Ukraine as fratricidal.

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