Ukrainian Greek-Catholic bishops from around the world, meeting in Lviv for their annual Holy Synod, have appealed to the international community to help restore peace in Ukraine.
“Ukraine is flowing with blood!” the bishops began, noting the “direct military intervention” in Ukraine by Russia. The bishops have also decried the “unprecedented level of hatred and distortion” taking place.
“The entire world has been able to witness how, over the last months, the aggressor commits crimes against humanity on the territory of Ukraine,” referring to the intentional downing of Malaysian airlines flight MH17 in July, in which 298 people were killed. The bishops also noted the many people suffering from lack of medical assistance, the thousands of people who have been kidnapped and tortured, and the hundreds of thousands of refugees forced to flee their homes. “If these crimes are not immediately stopped,” the bishops predict, “with the onset of the winter cold, the death toll will increase tenfold.” They also warn that, those attacking Ukraine “will not hesitate tomorrow against anyone, in their own country and beyond its borders, or attack any other nation in the world.”
In this context, the bishops have appealed “to the consciences of believers of all denominations and faiths… and all people of good will, to heads of state and members of the international community: ‘Stop the bloodshed in Ukraine!’” Silence, inaction, or reluctance to recognize the seriousness of the situation, they say, will make the world “an accomplice of the sin of murder, which cries to heaven for justice.”
The bishops conclude their appeal by calling on world leaders to fulfil their responsibilities by taking the necessary actions “to restore peace and security in Europe,” and by renewing their call to all believers and people of good will for “urgent prayers for the end of aggression and the restoration of a lasting and comprehensive peace in Ukraine.”
And today we celebrate...