Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung on 23 April that, from a Christian point of view, it was both “ethically legitimate and necessary” that Germany and Nato deliver weapons to Ukraine.
Ukraine should also be allowed to join the European Union, “as it is putting its head on the line for our freedom”, the advocated the bishop, who also heads Germany’s Military Ordinariate.
“Nothing can justify the violence with which Russia is attacking Ukraine. It is claiming its right to defend itself and should be allowed to join the EU as it is putting its head on the line for our freedom, our values and our democracy,” he emphasised.
Should Nato become directly involved, however, the consequences, such as the use of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, might get out of control, he warned.
“The use of such weapons must be avoided at all costs. How this is accomplished is a political and military decision. At any rate, both intervention and non-intervention require firm political will on the part of politicians.”
Overbeck sharply criticised Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. “The kind of alliance of throne and altar” that President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill had entered into was “beyond words and utterly unethical”.
“No Christian can ethically approve of a violent war.”
At the beginning of April, Kirill defended Russia’s war in Ukraine and called it a “metaphysical battle” of good against the evils of the West. At a church service, the Patriarch had called on Russian soldiers to fulfil their oath and be prepared to offer up their lives for their neighbours, as the Bible said, Overbeck recalled.
“The Russian Orthodox Church is allowing itself to be pocketed because it hopes to have a better chance of surviving if it assimilates,” Overbeck said. However, he said that war is never just.
“Peace is a work of justice. That is why everything must be done with the aim of achieving peace. That is why I never speak of a just war but of a just peace,” he underlined. As he saw it, Ukraine wanted peace and was claiming its right to defend peace.
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