CWN - The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor in Eastern Orthodoxy, has issued an encyclical for Easter, which falls on May 1 this year in the Orthodox liturgical calendar.

“Through His resurrection, the divine Word rendered humanity – created in the image of God but wounded and stained by sin – incorrupt and deified, granting us once again the possibility of achieving divine likeness, of which we were deprived through disobedience,” wrote Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

He added:

Unfortunately terrorism, war, and bloodshed continue to this day. The lament and agony of victims, particularly as these are rapidly disseminated through modern technological means, tear the world apart and break our heart. This is why the world’s leaders – political, religious and church – are obliged and compelled by love to do everything that is possible to avoid such unacceptable conditions.

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