Sofia, February 25, 2022
bg-patriarshia.bg
His Holiness Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria issued a statement on the Russian military operations in Ukriane today.
Having entered the preparatory days before the beginning of the salvific Great Lent, we have witnessed the military actions of two fraternal peoples—Russia and Ukraine, who accepted the saving faith of Christ from the same font of holy Baptism.
Bloodshed and the deprivation of innocent human lives is unacceptable for all who seek peace, unity and love in the world!
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you (Jn. 14:27), and Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the sons of God (Mt. 5:9), echo in our hearts and are the fundamental duty of every Christian!
We call upon all on whom it depends to stop the bloodshed and to bury the contradictions, to respect the basic human right to life and liberty, and to achieve through diplomacy the longed-for peace bequeathed to us by the Savior Christ!
We offer a heartfelt prayer to the Almighty God and Father of Peace to bring an end to the strife, unrest, sedition, and bloodshed, that peace and goodwill might reign again among the people!
We pray the Lord to support His faithful who desire and strive for peace and understanding, to deliver the world from the wiles of the wicked one who has sown the seeds of division and destruction through those devoted to him, to put to the test the God-given peace in the world and the crown of God’s creation—man!
May the Holy Mother of God protect all who are in trouble, sorrows, and misfortunes, and grant them patience, prayer, and trust in God’s mercy and justice!
May God grant rest in the mansions of the righteous to the souls of all those who have died as a result of the military conflict in Ukraine!
Statements have also been issued by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania, and the hierarchs of the Finnish Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington (OCA), His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of ROCOR, His Eminence Metroplitan Vladimir of Moldova, His Eminence Metropolitan John of Dubna, and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, and His Beatitude Metropolitan Benjamin of Minsk.
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