The pandemic and now the war, indicate the need for joint initiatives and great European solutions, said the Vice-President of the Commission, Margaritis Schinas, according to his statement after his meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Phanar.
He stressed that “we will not succeed, each one of us individually, and there is no better way to adhere to this value of joint action, by being inspired by religious leaders in range of the Ecumenical Patriarch, who is also a living symbol of all the values of a united Europe, peaceful coexistence, tolerance, lenience, peace. These ideals are what we need now more than ever. ”
“It is a great pleasure and honour to meet His All Holiness here today at the Phanar. This is my first visit since I took up my current duties. I briefed him on the EU’s unprecedented initiative to grant humanitarian protection status to all those fleeing the war in Ukraine, ” as Schinas noted.
He added that they discussed “as to how at this moment, at this dark hour of war, Christianity, Orthodoxy, but also his own leadership can be part of a peaceful perspective from the conflict.”
“As a Christian Orthodox, I cannot accept that Orthodox believers bombard Orthodox monasteries, Orthodox convents, monuments,” highlighted the Vice-President of the Commission.
Source: ANA-MPA
