European Bishops appealed for peace in Ukraine and asked Russia to immediately suspend hostilities against Ukraine, and urge all parties to work towards a solution to the conflict.
“In full communion” with Pope Francis’ reiterated pleas and prayers for peace in Europe, gives voice to the appeal and concerns of EU Bishops and expresses their closeness to the suffering people of Ukraine.
Saying they feel deep sadness for “the horrific human suffering inflicted on the people of Ukraine by the brutal military aggression initiated by the Russian authorities”, the Bishops also voice their concern that recent actions may “risk a further expansion of the war with disastrous consequences for humanity.”
The statement, issued at the end of the 2022 Autumn Plenary Assembly of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), appeals directly to Russia to suspend hostilities against Ukraine.
The bishops also urged “all parties to open themselves up to the negotiation of ‘serious proposals’ for a just peace, to work towards a solution to the conflict, which respects international law and the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
And they convey the closeness of their Dioceses to “the millions of refugees and to all those who suffer because of this madness of war.”
Following an in-depth discussion on the war in Ukraine and its increasingly dramatic socio-economic implications affecting citizens in Europe and beyond, the EU Bishops stress “the deep value of the European Union and its founding vision.”