In a relevant statement, the Ecumenical Patriarchate unequivocally condemns the unacceptable and sacrilegious missile attack by the Russian Federation against the historic Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, expressing a profound sense of sorrow.
The Mother Church emphasises that such actions are directed not only against sacred sites but also against the shared spiritual and cultural heritage of Christianity, which must be respected and protected by all parties.
The statement from the Ecumenical Patriarchate reads as follows:
The Ecumenical Patriarchate has learned with deep sorrow and disappointment of the unacceptable and sacrilegious missile attack by the Russian Federation against the historic Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. It condemns this attack, as it would any similar attack against sacred and emblematic monuments of Christianity’s shared religious and cultural heritage.
No reasonable person or argument can justify this barbaric and destructive attack on such a sacred pilgrimage site as the renowned Kyiv Lavra, which has a long history and tradition and is a UNESCO World Heritage monument.
His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew personally spoke on the telephone with His Beatitude Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine. He expressed his abhorrence of the Russian attack, as well as the wholehearted support of the Mother Church and himself personally for the long-suffering Ukrainian people. He also expressed his sympathy for the relatives of the victims and those injured in the attack.
