The World Council of Churches says it has been obliged to postpone a planned initial roundtable dialogue meeting on Ukraine.
General Secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay says practical and political obstacles to the participation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) as core participants in any such dialogue process render our plans impracticable for the time being.
“We continue to believe that the engagement of both the UOC and the OCU is an essential foundation for the dialogue process we envisage, for promoting social cohesion among the people of Ukraine on their journey as a free and independent nation, and for the broader search for peace in a deeply divided and contentious world,” he said.
The organization “prays” that “circumstances and perspectives will change” so that dialogue becomes possible.
The WCC stands always ready to convene and facilitate any such dialogue, to explore other possible formats, and to work with and through its member churches for peace in Ukraine, for a fuller realization of ‘the things that make for peace’, and against the “unconscionable violence of war”.
