The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, expressed his condolences to the families of the 176 people aboard a Ukrainian passenger jet that crashed on Wednesday morning shortly after taking off from the Tehran airport in Iran.
In a letter to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, His All Holiness stressed that “… Allow me to express the sincerest condolences, commiseration and solidarity of the Mother Church, praying that the All-Merciful God grants eternal rest to the souls of the victims … and supports their families and loved ones in their very profound bereavement”.