Consistory statement on Russias aggression
The Consistory of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland, during its meeting held in Warsaw on 24 February 2022, adopted a statement on the situation in Ukraine.
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace. Isaiah 52, 7a
It is difficult to find words that can express our feelings about Russia's unjustifiable military aggression against Ukraine, and its civilians. After the bloody two world wars that left Europe devastated, after the cruel war in the Balkans, the eyes of the whole world are again watching the horrors of war. Tragedy has once again struck Ukraine, the country which has already been facing Russian aggression for eight years. This time it is an attack of incomparably greater scale and with consequences that are hard to predict in terms of the security system in Europe and the world. Bombed and fired upon, Ukraine is experiencing its passion. We cannot stand aside, we cannot be neutral observers. Ukraine and Europe are our common cause.
We are moved by the current situation in Ukraine and, at the same time, terrified that the people in power have a tendency to inflict suffering on the weak, to sow destruction and death in the name of imperial ambition, pride and demonstrative disobedience to God's commandment to love your neighbour as yourself. The fruit of violence can never be peace, reconciliation and understanding, but only annihilation of life, anxiety, helplessness and chaos, damaging the good and all signs of humanity.
There is no alternative to peace. War is a curse, it has never been and still is not a space of goodness. War is hostility, hatred and an attack on what constitutes the gift of life.
As the Consistory of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland we join in prayer and appeals for peace with all people of good will, regardless of their denomination or religion. We pray for the members of our sister church in Ukraine, for Ukrainian women and men fleeing terror, and for those who live with us in Poland, worrying about their loved ones.
We declare our support for the humanitarian efforts of the Polish Government, Churches and NGOs towards our Ukrainian Friends who are currently experiencing unimaginable suffering.
We turn to the parishes of our Church for prayer and local involvement in all peace initiatives for Ukraine, including practical humanitarian aid. Let us be those who not only proclaim, but make peace, bring relief from suffering, and be a support to Ukrainian women and men in need.
On the threshold of the Lent, in which we speak of the way of Jesus Christ and all of us to Golgotha, let us do everything to ensure peace, make the shots fall silent, stop the people cry and cancel the vision of death in the name of Our Savior, who rejected violence and unconditionally became Love for us.
Warsaw, 24.02.2022