The Archbishop of Canterbury is in Romania as part of a wider regional tour dedicated to finding a peace settlement in Ukraine a year after Russia’s invasion.
Justin Welby, who heads the Church of England, will be in Romania until Wednesday. He will also visit Warsaw, Kyiv, Moldova and Istanbul where he will meet archbishop of Constantinople and ecumenical patriarch, Bartholomew, the “first among equals”—of all the self-governing Eastern Orthodox churches throughout the world.
Both Russia and Ukraine are Orthodox nations.
Welby visited Ukraine in November where he said:“The people of Ukraine have shown extraordinary courage in the face of Russia’s illegal, unjust and brutal invasion. This visit is about showing solidarity with them as they face a profoundly difficult winter.”
Last month, he warned against treating Russia ‘like Germany’ after the first World War to mark the one year anniversary of the Ukraine invasion.
Welby will hold a series of high-level meetings with Romanian officials including patriarch Daniel and other religious leaders. He will also meet with members of the Roma community and victims of human trafficking, Universul.net has learned.
Both Britain and Romania are NATO members and close political allies and trading partners. They also cooperate closely on crime.
He will hold a service on Monday at the 102-year-old Church of the Resurrection in downtown Bucharest.
The last Archbishop of Canterbury to officially visit Romania was George Carey in 1993 when Teoctist was the Romanian patriarch.
