Kassel/Darmstadt (dpa/lhe) - On the anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, the Protestant churches in Hesse are calling on people not to let up in their commitment to peace. "War must not become an accepted means of politics," said Bishop Beate Hoffmann of the Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck (EKKW), according to a statement on Wednesday in Kassel.
Her position on the war in Ukraine is still characterized by great ambivalence. To see how he kills people every day, burns resources, reverses the energy transition and promotes hunger worldwide is difficult to bear. "But not stopping an attack on state sovereignty, democracy and human rights would simply leave the law to the power of an aggressor."
Hoffmann advocates maintaining threads of conversation in families, town partnerships and in the churches, even if this is difficult. Supplying more and more weapons - this will not end the war. "Peace negotiations are needed," she explained.
In view of Russia's illegal attack on Ukraine, basic political convictions "were overturned within days, positions on peace ethics were called into question," said Volker Jung, President of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN), according to a statement in Darmstadt. At the same time, he would like future political discourse to focus on the model of a "just peace" which, in his opinion, means "human security for all people".
"Right now it is important not to give up hope for peace. It is necessary to think in terms of peace and not of war," explained Jung. It should not be forgotten that "weapons alone do not bring a just peace - even if the use of weapons is necessary to ward off the aggressor and thus the injustice."
The two church leaders called for participation in the nationwide peace prayers on Friday.
