WCC: “We yearn for peace in Ukraine, in Russia and throughout the region”
The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee, in a statement entitled “Yearning for Just Peace in Europe,” recalled with heavy hearts that the war in Ukraine has now passed 1,000 days. “Each of those days has been marked by the blood of so many civilians as well as combatants killed and maimed, the traumatic displacement of communities, and the destruction of homes, livelihoods, and civilian infrastructure,” the statement reads. “We reaffirm our Christian calling and desire for peace, and for the justice without which peace is unsustainable.”
The statement supports all initiatives to bridge the current conflict. “This war must end,” the statement reads. “The killing and destruction must stop.”
The statement calls all churches and all people of good will to concerted efforts for peace in the region and around the world.
“As an essential foundation for just peace in this or any other conflict setting, we demand respect for the principles of international humanitarian law, including regarding the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and on the treatment of prisoners of war,” the statement reads. “We express our grave concern about spiralling escalation and regret that more support is given to perpetuating violence than to encouraging dialogue to end conflicts.”
The statement urges all parties to refrain from further escalation. It specifically highlights threats of the use of nuclear weapons, stressing that “All such threats and all measures that lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons carry risks of such enormity and of such global, ecological and intergenerational consequence that they simply cannot be contemplated.”
“We yearn for peace in Ukraine, in Russia and throughout the region, based on international law and justice,” reads the statement. “As WCC, we continue to commit to promoting dialogue within the ecumenical movement and beyond, on the implications of this conflict, and possibilities for bridging divides and promoting reconciliation and unity, and to work with and through the churches in the region and around the world to promote peace and an end to this terrible war.”
The statement invites all WCC member churches and ecumenical and interfaith partners to join in renewed prayers for justice and sustainable peace in Ukraine, in Russia, in the wider European region, and around the world.
“May we work together to create a safe, secure, and peaceful world for all people and creation,” the statement concludes.
The WCC executive committee is convening in Paralimni, Cyprus, from 21-26 November to focus on planning for 2025, including the budget and implementation of WCC strategies. The thematic focus of the gathering is on peace-building in the context of occupation, war, and conflicts.