The President of Lithuania met with the Patriarch of Constantinople
On Tuesday,21-3-23, President Gitanas Nausėda met with His All-Holiness Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who is on a visit to Lithuania.
The President thanked the Archbishop of Constantinople for his position on the Russian Federation’s military aggression against sovereign Ukraine. Gitanas Nausėda stressed that it was extremely important that Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the Christian Orthodox Church, had condemned not only the political leadership of the Russian Federation, which had launched a brutal war, but also Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, who had supported the military aggression against Ukraine.
The President highlighted that Lithuania hosted more than 70,000 war refugees from Ukraine, pointing out that not only material assistance to the Ukrainians ripped away from their homeland, but also moral support for them and the fulfilment of their spiritual needs were particularly important.
President Gitanas Nausėda and the Archbishop of Constantinople also discussed the historical, cultural, and spiritual heritage of the Orthodox Church in Lithuania. Patriarch Bartholomew shared with the President the plans for the ecclesiastical structure of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Lithuania.
Patriarch Bartholomew invited Gitanas Nausėda to visit the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate in Constantinople (Istanbul).
Photo: Presidency of Lithuania
