The Ecumenical Patriarchate issued an immediate response to yesterday’s attack by Russian state services targeting Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
In its official statement, the Ecumenical Patriarchate declared: “The Mother Church of Constantinople – the Mother also of the Church of Russia – expresses its profound sorrow over the new Russian attack against the person of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, which on this occasion was launched by state services of the country.”
The Patriarchate recalled that since 2018, when it decided to grant autocephalous status to the Church of Ukraine, it has consistently refrained from responding to numerous similar attacks originating from both ecclesiastical and political circles in Russia. “The Mother Church avoided commenting on countless similar attacks… and it does the same today,” the statement emphasized.
Concluding its response, the Ecumenical Patriarchate underlined that: “Fanciful scenarios, false news, insults, and fabricated information of every kind by propagandists do not discourage the Ecumenical Patriarchate from continuing its ministry and its ecumenical mission.”
It is recalled that on January 12, 2026, a renewed attempt was made to tarnish the name of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Patriarch Bartholomew himself through a statement issued by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia (SVR).
Translated by: Konstantinos Menyktas
