The leaders of New Zealand’s four main Christian denominations have released a statement on Russian aggression in Ukraine.
The leaders are Right Rev. Hamish Galloway (moderator, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand), Andrew Doubleday (president, Methodist Church of New Zealand), Cardinal John Dew (Archbishop of Wellington) and Archbishop Don Tamihere/Archbishop Philip Richardson (Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia).
The statement is as follows:
Across the globe people are horrified by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
In a region that learnt the devastating lessons of war last century, the pattern has the tragic possibility of repeating. It flies in the face of much of the progress in peaceful coexistence that Europe has made in recent decades.
Once again, on European soil, we see the rights and wellbeing of millions of ordinary people trampled on by an aggressive and entitled leader.
It also flies in the face of the Jesus-values of peace-making. In this instance, those values call us to stand against violence and stand with the oppressed.
Those values call for de-escalation and peace talks.
They call for humility and kindness.
As Christians we stand in solidarity with the vast chorus of voices calling for the aggression to end and the peaceful solutions to begin.
Photo: A resident stands next to her house that caught fire after recent shelling in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine, Feb. 28, 2022. (CNS photo/Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters)
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