Patriarch Bartholomew: Tomos is a pledge of spiritual revival of Ukrainians

Patriarch Bartholomew. Photo: Facebook of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

On November 4, 2025, Patriarch Bartholomew delivered a speech in France at the General Assembly of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, in which he also touched upon the Ukrainian issue.

“By exercising the prerogatives of primacy that belong to us canonically and historically, we granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, thereby guaranteeing the faithful of that country the full flourishing of their Christian life in freedom of conscience, faith, and self-expression,” the Patriarch declared.

He did not specify how exactly the “full flourishing of Christian life in freedom of conscience, faith, and self-expression” is being guaranteed to Ukrainian believers today.

According to him, Russia’s attack on Ukraine “has bound secular and spiritual power together in an unjust war of insane cruelty, which, sadly, has plunged Russia – once so innately pious – into an abyss of impiety.”

“This new alliance of throne and altar stands in fundamental contradiction to the Gospel and to Orthodoxy,” Patriarch Bartholomew said. “The tragedy of Ukrainian women and children, subjected daily to a storm of bombs and missiles, is our tragedy as well. Therefore, we see as a sign of awakening the fact that, like the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the state, the Church, and public opinion in France recognize that the future of Europe is being decided there – not only its territorial integrity, but its moral integrity as well.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Patriarch Bartholomew had again called the war between Russia and Ukraine “fratricidal.”

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