Rome Newsroom, Mar 11, 2022 / 04:35 am
The president of the European bishops’ commission has appealed to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill to intervene for peace in the conflict with Ukraine.
“In these dark moments for humanity, accompanied by intense feelings of hopelessness and fear, many look to you, Your Holiness, as someone who could bring a sign of hope for a peaceful solution to this conflict,” Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich said in a March 8 letter to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
“Sharing Pope Francis’ feelings of anguish and concern repeatedly expressed over the ‘rivers of blood and tears flowing in Ukraine,’” Hollerich said, “I dare to implore your Holiness in the spirit of fraternity: please, address an urgent appeal to Russian authorities to immediately stop the hostilities against the Ukrainian people and to show goodwill for seeking a diplomatic solution to the conflict, based on dialogue, common sense, and respect for international law, while allowing safe humanitarian corridors and unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance.”
Patriarch Kirill is the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with an estimated 150 million members, accounting for more than half of the world’s Orthodox Christians.