Ukraine: Metropolitan Arsenios (Greek Orthodox) of Vienna, “war is against the Christian faith”. Reception of refugees in Austria
The Viennese Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Arsenios Kardamakis condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine. His prayers and hopes for him are “with all the people in the war zone and with the innocent children who fear for life and safety”, said the metropolitan in a note on the website of the Metropolitan of Austria. . “Every war is an attack on human rights and human dignity”. The war is “against the Christian faith and Christian culture and, as a sin, is a grave violation of the Gospel and of the Lord’s teaching”. All Christians are called to live in peace and charity, he says. Arsenios therefore expressly condemned the attack on Ukraine and asked “that people pray incessantly for all people”.
The Serbian Orthodox bishop of Austria, Andrej Cilerdzic, has already called for an end to the fighting in Ukraine and condemned the Russian attack: the war will only lead to losers, said Cilerdzic, who spoke of a “murderous attack”.
The Russian Orthodox community in Vienna is also dealing with the invasion of Ukraine: the parishioners of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Vienna-Landstraße have been invited to prepare for the reception of refugees from Ukraine. Without using the word “war”, the Russian Orthodox bishop Aleksij Zanochkin, responsible for Austria, has on Sunday at the end of the service, according to the Austrian press agency APA, that the community has begun to raise funds for those affected. . Aleksij, in a statement on Orf state television, also declared that “it is with great pain that we see that people are suffering, and that is why the Church will be with those who are suffering and will comfort them. Our task is to invoke peace ”.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic parish of Santa Barbara in Vienna has become a center of solidarity with the collection of donations and aid brought directly, then, to the Slovak-Ukrainian border. Volunteers and Ukrainian Catholic pastor Taras Chagala also take care of Ukrainians who have been stranded in Vienna because of the war, preparing to welcome refugees from Ukraine.