Ukrainian Churches appeal for peace

(Vatican Radio) Church leaders in Ukraine appealed for peace in their country's Crimea peninsula as its government accused Russia of "carrying out an armed invasion."

In an appeal published by Ukraine’s Catholic Credo magazine , the Auxiliary Bishop Jacek Pyl of Odessa-Simferopol, which includes Crimea said that "in solidarity with the legacy of our parents, who cared for the development of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, I urge all believers and nonbelievers to refrain from extremism, and not to allow the fraternal bond between people living in Crimea to break."

Bishop Pyl’s call for peace came as the Kiev government urged the United Nations Security Council to discuss the crisis.

He said he counted on local Catholics to pray and fast for peace, and to help remember all inhabitants, whatever their faith or ethnic origin, were "children of the one God."

And urging prayers for Crimea, Bishop Pyl said: "No one wants trouble here, but for now our future is unknown and in God's hands.".

"Orthodox, Muslims, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Karaites, representatives of other faiths and nonbelievers have lived together peacefully here for centuries, and we must not allow our origins or religions to divide us today, or for blood to be shed as in Kiev," Bishop Pyl said.

In a Feb. 26 statement, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations "categorically condemned" talk of dividing the country as "a sin against God and future generations."

"We urge the authorities to refrain from any steps that could be construed as dividing Ukrainians on religious, linguistic, national, regional or any other grounds," said the council, which includes Ukraine's Catholic and Orthodox churches.

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