All Ukrainian Council of Churches call on separatists to surrender and release all hostages
The All Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations condemned religious persecution and discrimination of the believers in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and addresses the terrorists with a demand to surrender, the Institute for Religious Freedom reports.
“The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations during the past weeks expressed support of the stance of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko as for peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and expressed readiness to feasibly contribute to implement his peace-making plan.
However, the situation in the East of Ukraine continues to be tense. In connection with recent developments in the region, we urge all those illegally holding weapons to put them down and stop bloodshed.
We stress once again the position we have previously stated that the territorial integrity of Ukraine, whose independence is granted to us by God, represents value to our people, and therefore we are not entitled to allow its separation, because it is a sin before God and future generations of our people.
We urge all people of good will to fully cooperate with a view of swift release of all hostages, including clergymen, and once again call on everyone to refuse this kind of fight, and to resolve this armed conflict in a peaceful manner.
The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations condemns any religious persecution and discrimination of the believers in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as seizure of church buildings and other religious buildings and their use in armed conflict whatever the motives might be.
We state our solidarity with the people affected by armed conflict and encourage our faithful to provide active aid and show mercy to our brothers and sisters in the East of Ukraine.
Once again I call on our faithful to intensify prayers for peace and harmony in this difficult time for our homeland”, states the document.
