Patriarch Bartholomew: Tomos guarantees freedom for Ukrainians

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople delivered a speech at the General Assembly of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in France, in which he touched upon the topic of autocephaly of the OCU. He called the granting of the Tomos a guarantee of freedom of religion for Ukrainian believers, and the current union of secular and spiritual authorities in the Russian Federation as contrary to the Gospel.

According to The Orthodox Times, speaking on November 4, 2025, Patriarch Bartholomew emphasized the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Church. «Using the prerogatives of primacy that belong to us canonically and historically, we granted the Orthodox Church of Ukraine its autocephaly, thereby guaranteeing the faithful of this country the full flourishing of their Christian life in freedom of conscience, religion and expression,» he said.

Much of the speech was devoted to criticizing the actions of the Russian Federation. The patriarch characterized the war with Ukraine as the result of an alliance between secular and spiritual authorities that«binds them in an unjust war, insane cruelty, and which, unfortunately, is throwing Russia, which is so organically pious, into the abyss of wickedness.» According to him, this «new union of throne and altar is fundamentally contrary to the Gospel and Orthodoxy.»

Recently, the Holy Bishops’ Council of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, held on October 27 under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland, took an important initiative. After reviewing the current situation in world Orthodoxy, the hierarchs called for the convening of a Pan-Orthodox Council to overcome the existing divisions.