Churches pray for peace in Ukraine

Between February 24 and February 26, Christians should commemorate the victims and pray for peace during the church services, but also during prayer meetings and online gatherings under the hashtag #prayer4ukraine, IDEA reports. That is the request of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Working Group of Christian Churches in Germany.

War crimes

Annette Kurschus, the chairwoman of the EKD, calls Christians to pray for a “just peace” that includes silent weapons and the possibility of mourning the fallen soldiers, especially for the mothers of those victims. She adds that the number of war crimes is rising every day and points out that around 300,000 people have already lost their lives as a result of the Russian attack.

Georg Bätzing from the Bishops’ Conference emphasises that peace is never final. “It can never be won once and for all”, he says as reported by Evangelische Zeitung.

Liturgy

Swiss churches also join the call for prayer for Ukraine. The Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church (EKS) holds an ecumenical prayer service for peace in Ukraine at the end of this month. They do so under the auspices of the Association of Christian Churches in Switzerland on February 24, Ref.ch reports. Also, representatives from Ukrainian communities in Switzerland are invited to the prayer meetings.

The liturgy of the prayer meeting can be found online, Adventist Press Service writes. That way, other churches, congregations and local groups can organise their own commemorations and prayer meetings for the war.