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A statement from the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly, “War in Ukraine, Peace and Justice in the European Region,” denounces “the illegal and unjustifiable” Russian invasion of Ukraine and renews the call for a ceasefire.

During the recent solidarity visit in Ukraine, a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation has met with various state institutions working with religious issues, listening and learning from the victims of the ongoing war and asking for support in giving permission to the members of the delegation of Ukrainian Churches to leave the country and attend the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe. 

Deploring the illegal and unjustifiable war “inflicted on the people and sovereign state of Ukraine” the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee lamented “the awful and continuing toll of deaths, destruction and displacement, of destroyed relationships and ever more deeply entrenched antagonism between the people of the region, of escalating confrontation globally, of increased famine risk in food insecure regions of the world, of economic hardship and heightened social and political instability in many countries.”

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, upon hearing reports that give stronger indications of grave violations of international law in Ukraine, expressed abhorrence at these reported atrocities, and called for full investigation.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) convened an ecumenical roundtable consultation on the situation in Ukraine, which took place 30 March at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute.

Hosting refugees, providing food, helping in hospitals, and ringing church bells as a warning when shelling starts—these are some of the many ways churches are responding in Ukraine and bordering countries as the war continues. More than two million people have poured out of Ukraine, and estimates from relief groups show that 18 million people—a third of the country’s population—will need humanitarian assistance.

In a letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow on 2 March, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca asked the patriarch to mediate so that the war between Russia and Ukraine can be stopped.

In an “Address to the Faithful and Citizens of Ukraine” on 24 February, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine (Moscow Patriarchate) candidly addressed the current situation: “Trouble has happened,” he said. “Most regrettably, Russia has started military actions against Ukraine, and at this fateful time, I urge you not to panic, be courageous and show love for your homeland and for one another.”

The World Council of Churches denounces any and every use of deadly armed force to resolve disputes that could be resolved by dialogue.

World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed grave concern for the people of Ukraine amid the latest developments and escalating tensions threatening peace and security.

In a 13 July letter to the United Nations Security Council, the Diálogo Intereclesial por la Paz en Colombia (DiPaz), an interchurch platform for dialogue for peace in Colombia, called on the international community to urge the Colombian government to resume the full implementation of the peace agreement and strengthen channels of dialogue to resolve societal issues.

The World Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, Lutheran World Federation, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Anglican Communion, World Methodist Council, Latin American Episcopal Council and World Association for Christian Communication, in a letter sent 18 May, urged Colombian president Iván Duque Marquéz to stop the spiral of violence that is doing terrible harm to the civilian population.

The brutal killing of Joao Alberto Silveira Freitas, 40, a black man, at the hands of two white security guards outside a supermarket in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on 19 November, the eve of National Black Consciousness Day, has sparked outrage across the country. World Council of Churches (WCC) member churches raised their voices to condemn the killing and to express deep concern regarding systemic racial injustice in Brazil.

Within the context of confinement to prevent the spread of COVID-19, multifaceted violence persists in Colombia, as well as violations of the rights of social leaders, Indigenous, Afro-Colombian and peasant populations.