Archbishop of Canterbury praises Ukraine on historic visit to Kyiv
The Archbishop of Canterbury praised the “extraordinary courage” of the Ukrainian people as he arrived in the country’s capital for a landmark visit.
Justin Welby arrived by sleeper train in Kyiv yesterday to show solidarity in the face of what he called “Russia’s illegal, unjust and brutal invasion”, becoming the first leader of the Church of England since the First World War to travel to an active European war zone.
Welby said he wanted to “be present with people who, because of conflict and war, feel incredibly isolated” and said that he feared a humanitarian catastrophe. He added: “This visit is about showing solidarity with them as they face a profoundly difficult winter.”
He is set to visit bomb-damaged areas near the capital, hold talks with leaders from the Catholic and Orthodox churches and meet UN officials and the British ambassador. He will also witness the work being done by Anglicans and other Christians to provide aid to those displaced by the conflict in what is being termed a three-day “pastoral visit”.
Randall Davidson was the last Archbishop of Canterbury to travel to an active European warzone, when he visited the western front in 1916.
Welby spent this afternoon touring central Kyiv with local Anglican church leaders, passing by the military checkpoints and armed guards around the presidential and government buildings now familiar from President Zelensky’s outdoor addresses to rally his nation. He also visited a Lutheran church and walked by the hulks of destroyed and captured Russian tanks on display outside St Michael’s monastery.
The Times flew with the archbishop from London to Warsaw yesterday where he met a charity called Ukrainian House, which is working to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland, providing schooling to children and support to their mothers, who usually arrive as lone parents because men of military age are banned from leaving Ukraine. More than 7.8 million Ukrainians have crossed the Polish border since the Russian invasion in February, with about 1.4 million staying in Poland.
Myroslava Keryk, the head of the charity, told Welby that Ukrainians were “very grateful for this very strong voice of Great Britain, supporting us regardless of the changes of governments”. Welby placed his head in his hands in mock despair at the recent political turmoil in Britain, prompting laughter from the charity’s staff.
Welby said: “They were almost all women who had fled [Ukraine], with children in some cases, leaving behind husbands, boyfriends, partners serving with the military. So [feeling] really lonely, isolated and fearful.”
Welby also visited the papal nuncio — the Pope’s ambassador in Poland — Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, at his residence in Warsaw to discuss relief efforts to support Ukrainians in Poland and send aid supplies across the border.
With airspace closed over Ukraine, Welby was joined by a small team including The Times in boarding a sleeper train in Warsaw to roll across into Ukraine and on to Kyiv, with the archbishop describing the journey as “like something out of a John le Carré novel”.
The archbishop was accompanied by the Bishop in Europe, the Right Rev Robert Innes, who represents Anglicans in continental Europe, for the 17-hour journey. Welby said he wanted to “learn how we can continue to support them amidst the ongoing devastation, loss and destruction of this war”.
Welby has visited a large number of conflict-affected zones, including in Pakistan and Mozambique this year and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, South Sudan and Nigeria.
