The Brilliant Resurrection of the Lord was celebrated in the Center of Orthodoxy with great splendor, solemnity and according to the centuries-old ecclesiastical tradition and order.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the Resurrection Ceremony at midnight on Holy Saturday at the courtyard of the Patriarchate.

He was accompanied by Metropolitans Kyrillos of Moschonisia, Makarios of Anea, Meliton of Philadelphia, Seraphim of Sebastia, Eirinaios of Myriophyton and Peristasis, Chrysostomos of Myra and Nikandros of Irenopolis, as well as clergymen of the Patriarchal Court.

Subsequently, through the Easter message to the Church’s crew, he called once again for an end to the fratricidal war in Ukraine, praying to the Resurrected Jesus “this year’s Easter to trigger the opening of humanitarian corridors, safe passages, to truly safe areas, for the thousands of entrapped people of Mariupol, the civilians, among whom are wounded, elderly, women and many children. The same should apply to all other regions of Ukraine, where an unspeakable human tragedy is unfolding. ”

The Ecumenical Patriarch, elsewhere in his speech, expressed the belief that “the forces of evil, violence and injustice, which continue to torment humanity, will not win in the end.”