During a service celebrated in Augsburg yesterday, the bishop of the diocese, Mgr Bertram Meier, chairman of the World Church Commission of the German Bishops’ Conference, issued an appeal to pray for peace. The celebration took place at the Basilica of Saints Ulrich and Afra as part of the “Eucharistic Chain”, an initiative of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) which sees Lent as a time of prayer for peace, which has been celebrated for several years now. “Solidarity with war victims is the breeding ground for peace”, Bishop Meier stressed in his homily, recalling that, as President of the World Church Commission, he had the opportunity to visit many regions in crisis. “There are never winners in wars”. The Church’s ethics of peace is actually not impartial, but follows the preferential option for the poor and places the victims of war and oppression at the centre of its reflections. “We have to see our commitment to peace mainly from their point of view, not from the point of view of the interests of state power. This also includes measures to protect victims from further acts of violence”, Mgr Meier continued. The “Eucharistic Chain” is a series of liturgical services throughout Europe, which began on Ash Wednesday in Albania and will end on Holy Thursday in Hungary. This Monday, the Chain made a stop in Germany. The aim of the initiative is to commemorate war victims, particularly in Ukraine and the Holy Land, and to pray for a just and lasting peace.