Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece sent a letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow on March 4, regarding the war being waged by the Russian military forces in Ukraine.
In his letter, the Archbishop appealed to the Patriarch of Moscow to intervene in order to stop the war. “And rest assured, your intervention will be catalytic,” he noted.
Archbishop Ieronymos also stressed that “the continuous attacks and the successive waves of bombing, by decision and order of the Russian leadership, make the Ukrainian land a place of suffering, sorrow, and ruins. Unfortunately, not only the people are being persecuted, but also vital infrastructure, historic buildings, cultural monuments and even sacred temples, such as the Orthodox Cathedral of Kharkiv.”
After stressing that the Church of Greece feels a strong duty to raise its voice in protest in favor of all the victims of the war and those persecuted, “due to intolerance and barbarism, unfortunately not by converts, but by like-minded Christians,” he reminded Patriarch Kirill of the long-standing ties between the Church of Greece and Russia.
“On the occasion of the beginning of Lent, we strongly urge you to resist the war plans of the secular leaders. And rest assured, your intervention will be catalytic,” said Archbishop Ieronymos.
He believes that such an intervention on the part of the Russian Patriarch will be decisive for the further increase of the dynamics of the Orthodox Churches in the modern world, “as the war between Orthodox reduces our credibility as Christians, who although we have a duty to declare peace, we do not implement it in practice, causing negative consequences for the prestige and the general presence of the Orthodox Church worldwide.”
Finally, with a “reminder” of the Archbishop of Athens to the role that Patriarch Kirill should have, the Archbishop of Athens addressed “a request for the constant alignment of SAS with the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ for love”.
“It is necessary, at this critical time, to confirm to the conscience of the Orthodox Church itself that we contribute to the prevalence of peace. In this way, the Orthodox Church will emerge as the most genuine and strongest peacekeeping actor between the two peoples, the Russian and the Ukrainian, who have common traditions of centuries, mainly through the Orthodox Faith,” the Archbishop concluded.
