The war in Ukraine, the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church, the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Hagia Sophia and his forthcoming visit to Mount Athos were the focus of an interview given by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew George Kouvaras.
In front of the Pentecostal Church and in the courtyard of the Patriarchate, the Ecumenical Patriarch spoke about the war raging in Ukraine, after being asked about the attitude of the Church of Russia and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow towards the war and underlined:
“It would not be possible for all the Churches not to condemn violence, war. But the Church of Russia disappointed us. I did not want the Church of Russia and Brother Patriarch Cyril to be this tragic exception. I do not know how he can justify himself in his conscience. How will he justify him, how will history judge him. He had to stand tall. Because one can object to pressure from President Putin. It should react to the invasion of Ukraine and condemn the war as all other Orthodox Primate did. He did not, that is to his detriment and I am very sorry. We may have had other differences, the one known for the Autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine, the difference we have for centuries now because the Russian Church is eyeing the primacy of Constantinople, undermining the foundations of the throne of Constantinople, but I was waiting for Brother Cyril to , historical moment, to stand up to the circumstances. In the need to sacrifice his throne, to say to Putin, Mr. President, I can not agree with you, I resign, I leave. “Or he will put him in prison. I do not know what President Putin would have done if the Patriarch had reacted to his plans, but that is what we, the other Prelate brothers, would have expected.”
His Holiness then spoke about the issue of the Theological School of Halki, on which he pointed out:
“The Theological School of Halki has been closed for 51 years and the Ecumenical Patriarchate is deprived of the opportunity to train its tomorrow’s ministers at its headquarters. We have repeatedly asked the government here to open our school. That is, to reopen the school for Christians, which opened during the Ottoman Empire and closed during the Turkish Republic. This is a contradiction and an unjustified development. Unfortunately, our requests to Ankara are not heeded. Let us hope that the Turkish government will at some point see this issue in a different light and be convinced that the reopening of the Halki is primarily in the interest of Turkey itself. Because, such an action will clearly prove that there is religious freedom, that there are no restrictions on human rights, on the right to religious freedom. I say here that it is not possible for there to be dozens of Muslim schools and not a single theological school for Christians. Because the Lausanne Treaty says that minorities living in Turkey have the right to open schools that provide religious education at their own expense. “We never asked for money, so the closure of Halki is also a violation of the Lausanne Treaty.”
Afterwards, the Primate of Orthodoxy spoke about the feelings caused to him by the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, but also the damage that has been done, according to a report:
“I never hid my feelings. I spoke and wrote about Hagia Sophia. These texts had the sensitivity to be collected by Maggina’s blessed friend and collaborator and to be published in a booklet. He did not have time to see it, but he made the effort to prepare it. There one can see my feelings for Hagia Sophia. From the Church of Russia and the State of Russia, again, we did not have pleasant messages when the Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque, because then it was said from the north that “now we can enter without a ticket”.
What we read now in the Turkish newspapers is not pleasant for the maintenance, for the cleanliness. There are complaints made by Turkish journalists. “I repeat that we would prefer Hagia Sophia to be an open museum for the whole world and not just a mosque for Muslims.”
Finally, the Ecumenical Patriarch spoke about his upcoming visit to Mount Athos and reminded that this will be the eighth time he will go, as he loves and cares.
“After 30 years that God required me to be on the throne of Constantinople, I want to go again to thank you for this great blessing. Some strange things were said and written, that I was going to expel Russian monks. They are myths. I have no intention of expelling anyone, I imagine they will not challenge me to do so. Let them sit carefully so that no one is expelled. These are self-evident things. “I go there as a pilgrim.”
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