Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine concluded his visit to Kavala and Thassos with messages of love and gratitude to Greece.
“I return to my homeland Ukraine full of feelings of deep gratitude, fraternal unity, spiritual upliftment, and true Christian love, which I felt to a great extent during these few days during my first official visit to Greece as Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” said Metropolitan Epifaniy.
As he pointed out, the invitation for the visit came at a difficult time for Kyiv and the whole of Ukraine, “when our cities were being destroyed by the Russian invaders”.
“I read this invitation at the sound of sirens warning of the danger of bombing. But it was on this invitation that I saw a sign of God’s blessing. A sign that we are not alone in this war. And even though we didn’t know then what would happen to us in the next hour, the sign of brotherly love in Christ from our sister Churches touched my heart and nourished hope. And this hope came true: with God’s help, thanks to our Armed Forces, this visit became possible,” the Metropolitan of Kyiv said.
He expressed once again his thanks to Greece, especially at a time when the neighboring country is launching an attack.
“At a time when our neighbors in the north, who received the light of baptism from Kyiv and heard the sermon of the Gospel, are now throwing bombs and missiles at us, the Greeks, far from our land, showed us, true brotherly love. They share our pain and grief, pray for Ukraine, and provide spiritual and material support to the victims of Russian aggression. We are very grateful for that.
Finally, he stressed that this visit confirms once again that the Church of Ukraine is equal among other local sister Churches and has the blessing of the Mother Church.
“Our joint visit to sacred historical sites, the joint prayers and the union at the Mystery of the Divine Thanksgiving together with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and all Greece, Metropolitan Stephanos of Philippi, Neapolis and Thassos, and numerous hierarchs and clergy are confirmation of this. Thank God for everything!”, Metropolitan Epifaniy noted.
