Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew says "Enough is enough, enough blood has been spilled! War is not a solution!" - "Peace also depends on each one of us!"

Speech of His Holiness the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew during the Mass of Holy Vespers in the Holy Church of Saint George Neochorio (Metochion of the Holy Sepulcher, October 22, 2023)Post 10/23/2023
* * *
Your Holiness Archbishop Anthidonos, Mr. Nektarios, Commissioner of the Holy Sepulcher here,
Venerable Brother Bishops,
Reverend Fathers,
Your Honorable Lords,
Beloved in the Lord,
With our paternal heart full of emotion, we accepted the respectful and reverent invitation of the in-house Commissioner of the Holy Sepulcher and our beloved brother Mr. Nektarios, and this year we came again to the Metochion of the Holy Sepulcher in Neochori to minister during the solemn Vespers of the feast. the city of Adelphotheos James, first Hierarch of Jerusalem, and Thronika, therefore, a feast of the sister Zionist Church. As we are already in this holy land, our thoughts turn to Saint Pauline Zion and the holy pilgrimages of our faith. Those places, where the feet of the Lord stood, from the Cave of Bethlehem to the Terrible Golgotha, to the Mount of Olives, where the Risen Lord was taken from us into the heavens, move every Christian soul without exception, not only when he is as a Pilgrim to the Holy Land, but only to hear them.
But today our memory looks back to the all-holy pilgrimages with agony and concern for the warlike situation in which the long-suffering region of the Middle East finds itself. True, the tragic irony, that there should be so much hatred and so much passion and so much competition and that such fierce battles should be concluded there where the God of peace sent us the angel of peace granted by his great will! May this enmity prevail and may human blood be shed during these days, when the celebration of the supernatural event of the visit of this God of peace to us approaches again!
For a few days now, as you all know, the sirens of war are loud in the Holy Land and countless rockets tear the sky and spread death with civilian victims, among which many small children. From the first moment, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Mother of Moderation condemned any action that endangers the fragile peace in the region, and we called on the parties involved to choose the path of dialogue, instead of the impasse of war.
Two days ago, from Monaco where we were in the context of our official visit to the Principality, shocked by the news of the explosion that occurred very close to I. Monastery of Agios Porphyrios with many victims and incalculable material damages, we contacted by phone the His Beatitude Patriarch of Jerusalem Mr. Theophilos and expressed our undivided support. Holy places, all holy places without exception, must be respected, especially when civilians find refuge in them. And civilians can't be anyone's target!
Which solution will not be provided by the smart bombs, which, as it has been proven, do not discriminate among their victims. Certainly not even the generalization of the war, the evolution and turn of which no one can predict and much less control. The solution to the dangerous situation that has been created can only be given by honest dialogue, which is the only "smart" choice.
Enough is enough, enough blood has been spilled! War is not a solution! It is the imprint of the fall of man, who in his arrogance and greed cannot recognize the sanctity of the face of his fellow man.
And this finding makes everyone who consciously believes in Christ responsible, towards His Lord and towards his fellow men. Yes, no Christian is responsible for what happens around him! Peace also depends on each one of us!
In this spirit, from here, from the Metochion of the Holy Sepulcher in Neochori, we invite everyone to become aware of their peacemaking responsibility. We pray with all our strength to our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ to enlighten the parties involved, to give them strength and courage, to start the dialogue without hesitation and further delay, for the benefit of the peoples of the region, for the benefit of the justice and peace, according to the words of the celebrated Saint James: "the fruit of justice in peace is sown to those who make peace".

Passing the word, we congratulate you, holy Commissioner of the Holy Sepulchre, for what you offer in self-sacrifice and at the expense of your health for the innermost three holy tabernacles of the Church of Jerusalem, for the preservation and in a good state of preservation of which do not require laborious manual labor you avoid work. And if we do not speak for your efforts in this matter, the stones will cry out! We beg you, holy brother, to convey to the Primate of the Zionist Church, together with the fraternal wishes for his Enthronement feast, and the undivided support of the Holy Church of Christ the Great and of us personally during the tragic moments s who experiences. We all pray, like the Brother God James, who has "the ambassadorship as a hierarch", to protect the Patriarchate of Jerusalem from all visible and invisible evil in the present difficult winter times.

The grace of the Holy and Life-giving Tomb, the embassies of Saint James and the Saint Great Martyr George the Trophy Bearer, be after all of us, brothers and children in the Lord.

Speech of Rev. Archbishop Anthidonos Mr. Nektarios, Commissioner of the Holy Sepulcher in the City
" How beautiful are the feet of those who preach peace,

of those who are evangelized the goods !" [Rom. i', 15]

Your Holiness Despot!

Ὡς ὖ! Attend!

Ὡς ὖ! Once again honor the Church of Jerusalem through our blessed presence! Come as the forerunner of this prayerful and doxological gathering in Constantinople, on the holy memory of the Holy Apostle James of Adelphotheus, first Bishop of the Holy City and predecessor of all those who ecclesiastically ministered to the Throne of the ancient Jew of the meeting held in the Holy Bosphorus in Nichori He prays to this of the Holy Great Martyr George the Trophy Bearer, of the Exarchate of the Holy and Life-giving Tomb. Come bless us and make us happy, the spiritual children of the Eternal Seventh Summit.

We have a great need, Your Holiness, of joy, and of resurrection, especially for this, when everything around us is sinking into the chaos of war, misanthropy, fratricide. Once again, the archangel Ὄphis asks for the blood of the innocent. Once again, it brings man into a treacherous fall, from the works of peace to the works of destruction and death. Again, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Once again, the angelic peace and divine beauty of Eden is threatened by the horrific ugliness of war and the heart-rending sacrifices of the grieving children of Hagar and Sarah. And our fathers and brothers, Panagiotis, in the midst of the paranoia of the new war, they are set, as a bastard and peritors, but also the brave and the headquarters, church -bearing of Christ and the Genus of the Orthodox.

And His Beatitude, the Patriarch of Jerusalem and all Palestine etc. Theophilos III, the successor of the celebrating Saint Apostle and Martyr James of Adelphotheos, he also tragically resembles the answerers of Constantinople in this respect, that, "conversing with history", as it is cleverly said, he is called to politicize the Palladian and the Palladian Fatos Church Him, under His guidance, marching on dry land, balancing with utmost care and precision between a stormy sea on one side and a scorched and inhospitable desert on the other. Which is why each of the Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople were throughout time the closest co-conspirators and contemporaries of each of Jerusalem, just as the latter were the strongest supporters and collaborators of the Patriarchs of Constantinople.

Proof of this is the historic Church within which are tonight the worshiped feet of Bartholomew of Pani, completing 32 years since his ascension to the Holiness, Apostolic and Patriarchal Ecumenical Throne and 50 years since his election and ordination as High Priest His. Please attend, Your Holiness! May your years be many, peaceful, happy and blessed! Bless us and the humble work being done here! Pray for the martyred beloved brother of Yours, Patriarch Theophilos, and for the heroic and always tested Holy Sepulcher Brotherhood that is closed and daily around him! Pray for peace and the state of the universe and the Holy Lands! May the logic, the love and the Light of Christ prevail, as you are ambassadors of the Holy Apostle James of Adelfotheus and the first bishop of Jerusalem, in all people!

Translation from : https://ec-patr.org/