March 2, 2022

We, theologians from different countries and continents, express our full solidarity with the appeals of the Christian Churches in Ukraine to stop the Russian military aggression against their country. We condemn this war against the sovereign state of Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. This unprovoked attack that has already cost thousands of lives can have no justification. It will cost many more human tragedies if continued. It is a crime against international law, against human rights, against freedom, and against humanity. The attack on Ukraine is an attack on the very foundations of a human civilization nourished by the moral guidance of Christianity and other world religions. All those responsible for this act of war must be named by name and brought to justice.

We stand with the people of Ukraine in this tragic moment of their history and ask people in the whole world to pray with us for Ukraine and Ukrainians. We also ask to pray for the people of Russia: both for those of them who have the courage to stand against evil, and for those who have been brainwashed by the vicious propaganda spread by the media machine of their state and turned into instruments of the criminal activity of their leader. We urge all world leaders who respect freedom, human dignity, and democratic principles to exert the toughest possible pressure on the Kremlin to stop this war immediately and to withdraw all its troops from Ukrainian territory. We urge all religious leaders in Russia to speak a clear word of condemnation of the unjust and criminal war and the suffering their state has brought to the neighboring country and to Europe. We call on all people of good will to support the victims of this aggression. We pray God for peace and justice for Ukraine, Russia, Europe, and the entire world.

We issue this brief and urgent appeal as theologians whose vocation it is to preach the Gospel of truth and justice. We pray that the God of mercy may grant peace and freedom to every human being created in God’s image and likeness, to every family, to every home, and to every nation.

We urge our sisters and brothers from every church, denomination, and religion to add their signature in support of our appeal.

Rev. Prof. Dr. Yury P. Avvakumov, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA

Rev. Prof. Dr. Victor Ronald La Barrera Villareal, CEBITEPAL Biblical Theological Pastoral Center for Latin America of the Latin American Episcopal Council, Bogotá, Columbia

Mons. Prof. Dr. Antonio Luiz Catelan Ferreira, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Auxiliar Bishop of the Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Prof. Dr. John C. Cavadini, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA

Rev. Prof. Dr. Jorge José Ferrer SJ, Pontifical Catholic University, Ponce, Puerto Rico

Rev. Prof. Dr. Simon Francis Gaine OP, Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas “Angelicum,” Rome, Italy

Rev. Prof. Dr. Krzysztof Góźdź, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

Rev. Prof. Dr. Gaby Alfred Hachem, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Lebanon

Prof. Dr. Michael Hollerich, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul MN, USA

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Huetter, The Catholic University of America, Washington DC, USA

Rev. Prof. Dr. Marek Jagodziński, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

Rev. Prof. Dr. Thomas Kollamparampil, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore, India

Sr. Prof. Dr. Isabell Naumann ISSM, Catholic Institute of Sydney, Australia

Sr. Prof. Dr. Josée Ngalula, Catholic University of Congo in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Prof. Dr. Thomas Prügl, University of Vienna, Austria

Prof. Dr. Tracey Rowland, University of Notre Dame, Australia

Prof. Dr. Marianne Schlosser, University of Vienna, Austria

Rev. Prof. Dr. Gabino Uríbarri Bilbao SJ, Pontifical University Comillas, Madrid, Spain

Prof. Dr. Robin Darling Young, The Catholic University of America, Washington DC, USA

Photo: uk.news