The central committee of the World Council of Churches has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at its first meeting since the war began on 24 February.
In a statement issued after its meeting this month, the committee deplored “the illegal and unjustifiable war inflicted on the people and the sovereign state of Ukraine” and rejected “any misuse of religious language and authority to justify armed aggression”.
It also called for a “fresh and critical analysis of the Christian faith in its relation to politics, the nation and nationalism”. It did not make any explicit criticism of Patriarch Kirill’s support for the war, instead welcoming “the commitment of the Moscow Patriarchate…to engage in encounter and dialogue on the situation in Ukraine”.
The central committee is made up of 148 members elected by the assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), representing 352 member churches, to implement its policies and programmes. While the WCC has convened two roundtable meetings on the war since February, and its acting general secretary, Fr Ioan Sauca of the Romanian Orthodox Church, has denounced the invasion, this is the first time that a representative body of the WCC has issued such a condemnation of the conflict.
There are five representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate on the central committee, who represent the WCC’s constituency in both Russia and Ukraine. They remain despite calls from many Church leaders – including the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams – to expel the patriarchate from the WCC.
In its statement, the central committee defended the ongoing participation of the Moscow Patriarchate, describing the WCC’s mandate as “accompanying its member churches in the region and as a platform and safe space for encounter and dialogue”. It urged “members of the ecumenical fellowship in Russia and Ukraine to make use of this platform”.
The committee asked the acting general secretary to ensure there would be separate Ukrainian representation at the next WCC assembly in Karlsruhe in Germany, in August and September this year. It also directed him “to lead a ‘Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace’ delegation to Kiev [sic] and Moscow to meet with the leadership of the churches in both places”.
This summer’s assembly will see the Revd Jerry Pillay of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa take over as general secretary.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis said Christians must have faith that God will bring peace to Ukraine, Ethiopia, Syria and other parts of the world suffering from violence even if, for now, “everything seems to be going in the opposite direction”. “Let us not stop praying, fasting, helping and working so that the paths of peace find space in the jungle of conflicts,” he said yesterday during a meeting with a Vatican coalition of funding agencies. The agencies in the coalition include the US-based Catholic Near East Welfare Association and Catholic Relief Services, as well as Aid to the Church in Need, Caritas Internationalis and Catholic charities in Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
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