Bartholomew to visit Ukrainian refugees in Poland

ISTANBUL

Istanbul’s Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew has accepted an invitation by Polish President Andrzej Duda to visit his country amid a flow of refugees from Ukraine.

Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of millions of Orthodox believers, will hold a religious ceremony in Poland with Ukrainian evacuees.

Kadıköy Metropolitan Emmanuel Adamakis and Reverend Iakovos Krochak will join Bartholomew in his Poland trip.

The time of the trip has not been announced yet.

Born on Feb. 29, 1940, on the island of Imbros (Gökçeada), Bartholomew has been the Fener Greek patriarch since Nov. 2, 1991.

For supporting refugees, he visited the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos in 2016 and the Korean Demilitarized Zone to pray for permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula in 2018.