The letter, was initiated by Jim Wallis of Georgetown University’s Center on Faith and Justice, asks the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to “use your voice and profound influence to call for an end to the hostilities and war in Ukraine and intervene with authorities in your nation to do so.”
Signers include Eugene Cho (Bread for the World); Shale Claiborne (Red Letter Christians), Michael Curry (Episcopal Church), Wesley Granberg-Michaelson (Reformed Church of America), David Gushee (Mercer University), Mimi Haddad (CBE International), Lisa Sharon Harper (Freedom Road), Peter Heltzel (Disciples of Christ Church), Obery Hendricks (Columbia University), Shirley Hoogstra (Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities), Walter Kim (National Association of Evangelicals); Jo Anne Lyon (Wesleyan Church), David Neff (Christianity Today), Rob Schenck (The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute), Ron Sider (Christians for Social Action), Jim Wallis (Georgetown University), Michael Wear (Public Square Strategies), Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (School of Conversion), and Philip Yancey (author).
Here is the text:
His Holiness Kirill
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Russian Orthodox Church
Your Holiness,
We write you as brothers and sisters in Christ. Some of us have worked with you in fellowship in ecumenical settings. All of us serve in various positions of leadership and service in churches and Christian organizations. We know well the heavy responsibilities and challenges which rest on you, and all those called by God to be shepherds and servants of God’s people.
With broken hearts, we are making an earnest plea that you use your voice and profound influence to call for an end to the hostilities and war in Ukraine and intervene with authorities in your nation to do so. We all are witnessing the tragic and terrible loss of innocent civilian life and the grave dangers of escalation posing the deepest threats to peace in the world. Moreover, we grieve for the ways the body of Christ is being torn asunder by warring factions. The peace desired by our common Lord demands that this immoral warfare end, halting the bombing, shelling, and killing, and withdrawing armed forces to their previous boundaries.Â
We make this appeal with no political agenda. Before God, we bear witness that there is no religious justification from any side for the destruction and terror the world is witnessing daily. Our first allegiance is always to our Lord Jesus Christ. This transcends the narrow claims of all nations and ideologies. Â
We are in the season of Lent. In that Lenten spirit, we ask you to prayerfully reconsider the support you have given to this war because of the horrendous human suffering it has unleashed.
In this moment, as the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, you have the holy opportunity to play an historic role in helping to bring a cessation of senseless violence and a restoration of peace. We pray you will do so, and our prayers will accompany you.
Respectfully Yours in our Lord Jesus Christ,
This might be a tough sell. Kirill appears to be firmly in the Putin camp. Let’s call him a court patriarch.