Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches, has renewed his condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine. He lamented the killing of civilians and criticized Patriarch Kirill of Moscow for referring to the invasion as a “holy war.”

During his April 7 talk, the Ecumenical Patriarch expressed outrage at a statement that the war broke out because he granted autocephalous status to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2019.