Bonn (epd). The chairman of the Catholic German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, and the chairman of the Orthodox Bishops’ Conference in Germany, Metropolitan Augoustinos, have appealed to politicians and church representatives to work towards a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. According to a statement by the German Bishops’ Conference published in Bonn on Tuesday, both chairmen called for an immediate end to the illegal war.
The Limburg Bishop Bätzing was on his inaugural visit to Metropolitan Augoustinos. Because of the pandemic, the visit could only take place on Tuesday. Bätzing has been chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference since March 2020. Any attempt to legitimize the war politically or religiously is completely unfounded, emphasized the Bishop of Limburg. “In view of the horrific images that are sent from Ukraine all over the world every day, the statements made by the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Cyril are incomprehensible to me. They lead to a serious stress test for ecumenism, too,” Bätzing continued. Moscow Patriarch advocates Russian war of aggression.
Metropolitan Augoustinos pointed out the special situation of the orthodox dioceses and parishes in Germany. “Where the congregations are multinational, there is always a risk of difficulties between believers,” he said. It is the most important task of the Orthodox Bishops’ Conference that refugees from Ukraine find a church home in Germany.
–
