Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matt. 5:9)
As the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), meets in Cyprus on 21-26 November 2024 and reflects on this island’s 50-year history of invasion and occupation, we also recall with heavy hearts that the war in Ukraine has now passed 1000 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. We take note of recent UN reports describing the extent of the humanitarian and human rights impacts of the ongoing conflict.[1]
We reiterate the positions expressed in successive WCC governing body statements since the Russian invasion in February 2022, and indeed since the conflict began in 2014. We underscore the WCC’s clearly established position that “war is incompatible with God’s very nature and will for humanity and against our fundamental Christian and ecumenical principles”.
We reaffirm our Christian calling and desire for peace, and for the justice without which peace is unsustainable. We support all initiatives to bridge the current conflict, including those which have led to the mutual exchange of prisoners. This war must end. The killing and destruction must stop. We call 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. Likewise, we demand respect for fundamental non-derogable principles of international human rights law, including freedom of religion or belief and the right to conscientious objection.
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. We stand in categorical opposition to any use of internationally-banned weapons, indiscriminate weapons, and autonomous weapons systems (of which WCC is calling for a global ban). We urge all parties to refrain from further escalation, and we reiterate the WCC 11th Assembly’s call for “much greater investment by the governments of Europe and the entire international community in searching for and promoting peace, and in strengthening non-violent conflict resolution, civil conflict transformation and reconciliation processes, rather than in escalating confrontation and division.”
We especially urge and appeal for de-escalation of increasing threats and rhetoric in various countries regarding the possible use of nuclear weapons in this conflict. 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. We call on all churches and people of good will to contribute to peacebuilding efforts and overcoming enmity. 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. We invite all WCC member churches and ecumenical and interfaith partners to join us 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.
[1] e.g. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/40th-periodic-report-human-rights-situation-ukraine-treatment-prisoners and https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2024/10/ukraine-worsening-impact-civilians-russias-attack-torture-prisoners