Ecumenical Patriarch issues Easter encyclical, denounces war

April 08, 2026

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CWN Editor's Note: The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople today released an Easter encyclical by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches.

“The joy of the Cross and the Resurrection has preserved the people of God from identifying themselves with the spirit of this world, while at the same time safeguarding them from barren insularity and a spirituality devoid of dynamism and hope-bearing breath,” he wrote. “The message of the Cross and the Resurrection resounds today as a Gospel of peace, reconciliation, and justice.”

The Ecumenical Patriarch added:

War, hatred, and injustice stand opposed to the fundamental Christian principles for whose realization and establishment the people of God pray and labor each day. In the light of the Resurrection, we beseech the Lord on behalf of the victims of wartime violence, the orphans, the mothers who mourn their children, and all those who bear in body and soul the effects of human cruelty and callousness.

“Christ is risen” is a denial and condemnation of violence and fear and an invitation to a life of peace. War brings forth lamentation and death; the Resurrection conquers death and bestows incorruptibility. Before the daily images of the cruelty of war, the Church raises her voice and proclaims the sacredness of the human person—of every concrete human being anywhere on earth—and the duty of absolute respect for that dignity.

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