Lord Williams of Oystermouth, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, recalled the prophet Ezekiel as he addressed refugees in western Ukraine on Tuesday.
Speaking as part of an interfaith delegation visiting the town of Chernivsti, Dr Rowan Williams cited the words of the prophet: “I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who lived by the river Chebar. And I sat among them, overwhelmed, for seven days.” (Ezekiel 3:15)
Dr Williams said that though he and his fellow delegates were not prophets, they too hoped to listen to the refugees’ experiences and understand how they lived with them.
“The hope and loving solidarity that you give to each other is a gift to us all,” he said.
The Minister General of the Franciscan Friars, Br Massimo Fusarelli OFM, also spoke at the event, describing how suffering in wartime fostered the spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness in St Francis of Assisi.
“St Francis’s compassion and personal peacefulness was instrumental in restoring happiness to a people who were suffering from war,” he said, and the saint’s example shows “it is yet always possible that suffering can be a time of conversion”.
Other leaders from Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist organisations also spoke, their contributions interspersed with hymns and Ukrainian music. Sister Maureen Goodman of Brahma Kumaris UK, the “soul-consciousness movement”, said that “peace is the inherent nature of the human spirit”, and that “true religion means peace”.
Pope Francis sent a message which was read out to the audience, thanking the delegates “for the initiative of this moment of prayer and fraternity between followers of the different religions”.
“The present moment leaves us deeply troubled,” his message said, “because it is marked by the forces of evil.” He said that “war is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil”.
The event was part of a visit to refugee camps in the Chernivsti region, organised by Jerusalem’s Elijah Interfaith Institute.
During his address, Dr Williams also cited the first letter to the Corinthians: “If one part of the body suffers, all suffer with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26)
“We recognise that we cannot be free, we cannot even be human,” he told the audience, “if you are not free, if you are not treated as human.”
He continued: “Those who abuse the freedom and humanity of others are in fact destroying their own humanity, wounding the image of God in themselves as well as in their victims.”
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