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A call to peace and prayer for Ukraine

March 5, 2014

Office of Public Affairs

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori joins the heads of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada in issuing A call to peace and prayer for Ukraine.

The following is their statement:

A call to peace and prayer for Ukraine

from the heads of

The Anglican Church of Canada

The Episcopal Church

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Ash Wednesday 2014

We have watched with dismay, along with the rest of the world, as tensions rise and peace is jeopardized in Ukraine. Recent dangerous developments in the Crimean region of the country put the lives of many innocent people at risk, and threaten peace and security far beyond that region of the world.

As Christians in the western tradition, Anglicans/Episcopalians and Lutherans today enter the season of Lent, a time of repentance. In the Ash Wednesday liturgy we repent of “our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty.” We cannot remain indifferent in the face of the injustice befalling the people of Ukraine, nor toward the potential suffering and cruelty further military intervention might bring.

In the name of the churches we serve, we join our voices in solidarity with those of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches in pleading for an end to military aggression in that land. We call on all of those involved—whether governments, movements, or individuals—to repent of aggression and violence, and turn instead to the way of peace through dialogue.

We also call upon the faithful people of our churches to pray throughout the season of Lent for wisdom, peace, and justice to prevail in Ukraine.

Bishop Elizabeth Eaton

Presiding Bishop

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz

Primate

Anglican Church of Canada

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori

Presiding Bishop and Primate

The Episcopal Church

Bishop Susan Johnson

National Bishop