Armagh, Northern Ireland, Mar 16, 2022 / 17:08 pm
This Saint Patrick’s Day is a time for prayer and action for peace in Ukraine and for all the refugees and other victims of the war, Ireland’s leading Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland archbishops have said in a joint statement.
“We appeal through our prayers this Saint Patrick’s Day for an end to this pointless massacre and pulverizing of the property, bodies and spirit of the Ukrainian people,” Catholic Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, and Church of Ireland Archbishop John McDowell said in a joint March 16 statement on the eve of the Feast of St. Patrick, Ireland’s primary patron saint.
“It is poignant to think that as the world comes out of a global pandemic which reminded us so strongly of our connectedness and interdependence, that our continent has so easily lapsed into the pointless divisions and devastation of warfare,” they continued. “War is a defeat for humanity. It represents the failure of politics, diplomacy and dialogue.”
“May all Christians of Europe, including Patriarch Kirill and the Russian Orthodox Church, unite in daily spiritual and practical efforts in support of a ceasefire, humanitarian outreach and the immediate laying down of weapons. Christ’s cause can only be advanced by Christ’s means,” the archbishops said.