In 2022, the World Council of Churches Assembly (WCC) is to be held for the first time in Germany. Representatives of approximately 350 churches will meet in Karlsruhe from August 31st to September 8th 2022. They represent more than 500 million Christians from over 120 countries.
As the signatories of this appeal, we call on the inviting churches:
Make use of the public awareness that the WCC Assembly will create in the context of your church. Affirm your commitment to Just Peace in Germany, Europe and worldwide, within the Church, the state and society!
In particular, we expect the inviting churches to promote in public and with political decision-makers the calls to:
- Immediately join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), in order to ban the most dangerous of all weapons from this world and overcome this permanent threat to humanity,
- Stop exporting arms (especially small and light weapons), because they exacerbate the suffering in the wars of this world and make peaceful negotiations more difficult,
- Redirect the billions spent on military armament each year towards rebuilding societies in ways that mitigate climate change and promote social justice and peace.
First signatories: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Duchrow · Prof. Dr. Fernando Enns · Ulrich Frey · Karen Hinrichs · Prof. Dr. Margot Käßmann · Prof. Dr. Konrad Raiser · Konstantin Wecker · Aktionsgemeinschaft Dienst für den Frieden (AGDF) · Deutsche Franziskanerprovinz · Deutsches Mennonitisches Friedenskomitee (DMFK) · Church and Peace – Europäisches Friedenskirchliches Netzwerk · Ev. Treuhandstiftung Friedensarbeit in Württemberg · Mennonitisches Friedenszentrum Berlin (MFB) · Ohne Rüstung Leben · pax christi-Diözesanverband Freiburg · pax christi-Regionalverband Limburg-Mainz · Pro Ökumene – Initiative in Württemberg.
