The Church must expose any instrumentalization of faith.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew made this statement during his address on October 27, 2026, in Assisi, at a forum titled “The Ecumenical Patriarchate: From the East to Global Peace,” held as part of the International Meeting for Peace, according to Vatican News.

Patriarch Bartholomew noted that his 35-year journey had been marked by both joys and trials in a world where war had once again returned, from the Balkans to the Caucasus, from the Middle East to Africa, and finally to European soil. Throughout this history, the Church cannot remain a passive observer, as peace is an integral part of its very witness.

“The Church that proclaims the Resurrection must also proclaim peace,” Bartholomew emphasized.

According to the Patriarch, this commitment also requires exposing any instrumentalization of faith.

In this context, the Patriarch of Constantinople recalled the 1994 Bosphorus Declaration, in which religious leaders affirmed that “a crime committed in the name of religion is a crime against religion.”

He also stressed that “invoking God to justify killing is blasphemy in the eyes of the Church.”