Bartholomew in sharp tone: Russian Church bears responsibility for crimes in Ukraine and child abduction

The Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. г. Bartholomew

The spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew today stated that the powerful Russian Orthodox Church shares responsibility for the war in Ukraine with the Russian leadership, but also that it is ready to help in the post-war "spiritual renewal" of Russia.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew thereby rebuked Russian Patriarch Kirill, whose open support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine has divided Orthodox Christians.

Bartholomew, who angered Moscow in 2019 by recognizing Ukraine's newly founded Orthodox Church, said Russian authorities were using the church as an "instrument for their strategic goals".

"Church and state leadership in Russia collaborated in the crime of aggression and share responsibility for the resulting crimes, such as the shocking abductions of Ukrainian children," Bartholomew told a conference in the Lithuanian parliament.

Last week the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of a war crime for illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia claims it is deporting the children from Ukraine for their safety and denies human rights violations in Ukraine.

But the prosecutor and judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, who issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, became the target of a crime.

"Our interfaith dialogue must focus on resisting and neutralizing the capacity of the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate to undermine unity and theologically legitimize criminal behavior," Bartholomew said.

The Russian Orthodox Church has no comment for now.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate is located in Istanbul and is considered "first among equals" in the Orthodox Church, which has about 260 million followers worldwide, of which 100 million are in Russia.

"The Mother Church of Constantinople is ready to help her children in Ukraine and Russia again, as she has done many times in the past," he said.

"It is our common Christian duty to use the power of dialogue to bring our Russian brothers and sisters back to our community of shared values," he said, stressing the need for "spiritual renewal" in Russia and Ukraine.

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