Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew wished for an end to all bloody conflicts, especially in Ukraine and the Middle East, on the occasion of the start of the Olympic Games, joining his voice “to that of his most holy brother Pope Francis”, as he characteristically said.
Bartholomew called for an Olympic truce to be implemented and for this year’s Games to be the starting point not just for a temporary ceasefire but for an end to all bloody conflicts, especially in hard-hit Ukraine and the troubled Middle East.
The Ecumenical Patriarch officiated yesterday, July 26, in the commemorative church of Agia Paraskevi in Picridius, in Kratios Kolpos in Constantinople, and in his speech after the divine liturgy he mentioned, among other things, that “Agia Paraskevi, who resisted the tyrants, through her omnipotent grace of God, with the result of defeating them spiritually and leading them to faith in Christ, she gives us a message of hope by her example that the fear, cowardice and anxiety that they create during their tragic moments are not the sadness and pain of the Christian himself” to complete:
“On the contrary, it reminds us that the Christian’s duty is sport, struggle. It is not by chance that the writer of the sacred hymn in the epitome of Saint Paraskevi calls her “athletic”, to show that she exercised legitimately and well, which is why she has been crowned and honored, for centuries, by all generations of Christians.”
In this way, paralleling Agia Paraskevi’s life with the sporting rivalry, Mr. Bartholomeos then referred to the Olympic Games, joining his voice with that of Pope Francis in favor of the Olympic truce.
The Ecumenical Patriarch said: “If the athletes participating in the Paris Olympic Games compete with zeal and noble competition to win the coveted medal, you realize, beloved children, how much greater our zeal must be and how much higher our competitive mind, to win the amaranth crown from God Himself!
We take advantage of the official opening of the Olympic Games tonight to join our voices with those of your most holy brother, Pope Francis, in favor of the Olympic Truce, which since ancient times has been an obvious condition for holding the Olympic Games, and which are respected by all as sacred and inviolable. After the burning heart of the Lord of peace, may this year’s Games in the City of Light be the starting point not only for a temporary ceasefire, but for the end of all bloody military conflicts, especially in the severely tested countries of Ukraine and the Middle East, with their many problems, and for the establishment of a just and lasting peace in these suffering areas.”