“We Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. We have been praying for peace for eleven years, and we believe that one day it will finally come. Not a peace that means unconditional surrender to evil, nor a compromise solution to the crimes that have been committed, but a peace based on truth.” Msgr. Bohdan Dzyurakh, Apostolic Exarch of Ukrainian Catholics of the Byzantine Rite of Germany and Scandinavia, was speaking to SIR a few hours before the opening of the emergency summit called by French President Emmanuel Macron for Monday afternoon in Paris. The purpose of the summit is to draw up a common European strategy in response to Trump’s recently announced intention to hold bilateral talks with Putin on the future of Ukraine. Donald Tusk, Pedro Sanchez, Olaf Scholz and Giorgia Meloni will join other European leaders at the Paris summit, along with the heads of the EU institutions and NATO Secretary Mark Rutte. “The truth is that an international crime has been committed,” Bishop Dzyurakh immediately clarified. “A country has attacked another country and caused immense pain to the Ukrainian people, for absolutely no reason.” “Our expectation is a just peace. A peace that responds not to the neo-imperialist and colonialist whims of a despot who ignited a massacre of innocents, but a peace based on the rights and principles that Europe has fought for and achieved after World War II and that have proved their worth over the decades. We ask you not to attempt to please a dictator, but to restore truth and justice – above all, out of respect for the victims of this war. Let us remember the words of Pope John Paul II: “There can be no peace without justice.”
“Justice and truth are the preconditions and the necessary ingredients for a true and lasting peace.”
Last week, Msgr. Dzyurakh participated in a symposium in Munich on “Security in Europe: Religious Dimension of War and Moral Responsibility for Peace”, which brought together leading scholars and theologians. The symposium was held on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “The Churches also have an important, fundamental role to play – the Bishop said – as they are called to usher in “horizons” of reconciliation. It is a necessary step, since there will be no real peace without forgiveness for the perpetrators of crimes not only against the Ukrainian people, but against humanity as a whole. It is not only our country that has been attacked by Putin’s Russia, peace itself has been the victim of the heinous aggression that we are suffering today.”
The bishop made an appeal to the heads of state and government gathered in Paris today. “It’s the same appeal we have been repeating for years. European leaders must assume their responsibilities before God and reject the idea of acquiescing to the aggressor or to those whose aim is to rebuild a prosperous and secure life at all costs, not least at the expense of justice and truth. We call on European leaders to work towards peace based on the principles of international law and human rights. We demand a peace that protects human life. This is a supreme good that we must cherish, safeguard and protect. This peace must also respect the right of the peoples of Europe to live in their God-given independence and freedom, respectful of internationally recognised borders. The mistakes of the past must not be repeated. We must not allow a repetition of the disastrous events that followed the Munich Conference in 1938, which led to a global massacre. We therefore call on Europe to show unwavering solidarity with the Ukrainian people and with all those who defend freedom, dignity and human life, and we call on all of us to work together to achieve that peace for which Europe has suffered so much. This is the only obligation that now lies before political leaders.
Do not turn your back on the innocent victims of this war or betray the heroism of the Ukrainian people and the expectations of the peoples of Europe. For years they have shown unparalleled solidarity with the Ukrainians. Their solidarity is based on the hope that the rulers will take the right path leading to a just and lasting peace.
