Church and Peace, together with 15 other peace organisations, is calling for nonviolent and diverse protests for the weekend of 24-26 February 2023 to break the spiral of violence, for a ceasefire and peace negotiations, against Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and against the German government’s rearmament programme. The occasion is the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in violation of international law. (Click here for the call)
We continue to pray online every Friday evening for half an hour for peace in Ukraine and the world. Together with the Fellowship of Reconciliation (England and Scotland), Cymdeithos y Cymod (Fellowship of Reconciliation in Wales) and the Methodist Peace Fellowship, we meet on Fridays at 7:30pm (London)/ 8:30pm (CET)/ 9:30pm (Kyiv)/ 10:30pm (Moscow) on Zoom. You are warmly invited to join us! (Click here for info)
Church and Peace members across Europe have activities planned:
Friends World Committee for Consultation – Europe and Middle East Section (FWCC-EMES) hosts a 30 minute online meeting for worship to pray for peace in Ukraine every Tuesday at 13.30 Britain, Ireland & Portugal/ 14.30 CET. Find more info: https://fwccemes.org/calendar/ukraine-worship
The International Fellowship of Reconciliation together with international organisations calls for actions at the Belarusian Embassies on the 20th of February to protest against a possible entry into the war in Ukraine by Belarus, and to support conscientious objectors and deserters. “No means No – to the War in Ukraine”. Find the call and how to support it at: https://www.ifor.org/news/2023/2/2/call-to-action-no-means-no-to-the-war-in-ukraine
21 February 2023, 7.30 pm, Oldenburg/Germany: One year of war of aggression on Ukraine. Can an ecological, low-military, socially and globally just change of era still succeed? Discussion with Andreas Zumach, Journalist and former UN correspondent in Geneva, and Oliver Knabe,Chairman of the Board of the Forum Civil Peace Service in Cologne. Organised by Church and Peace member Micha Initiative Oldenburg, with pax christi Germany, Brot für die Welt, Ökumenisches Zentrum Oldenburg and others. Info: https://werkstatt-zukunft.org/index.php?id=start/2351-start.php
22 Feburar 2023, 5pm, Hauptkirche St. Petri in Hamburg: “The way to peace is peace – STOP THE WAR – Now!” Peace Vigil. The Bread and Roses base community organises this vigil. In addition, these also take place on every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. “We reject further and further deliveries of weapons to war! Instead, it is high time to work for a dialogue between the warring parties, for a negotiated solution. It is secondary whether we advocate this for pacifist or pragmatic reasons. In the name of humanity: stop the war. Come in large numbers to the vigil!”, says the invitation. http://brot-und-rosen.de/uploads/media/Mahnwachen_fuer_den_Frieden-o.Datum-2023.pdf
22 February, 7pm (UK time), online: Ash Wednesday Peace Witness. Once again, Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Christian CND) will host an Ash Wednesday Peace Witness together with Pax Christi. There will be events in person around the UK but the online event in the evening will allow participants to come together wherever they are and focus on peace. Ash Wednesday this year comes just two days before the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so the focus will be on the suffering of both the Ukrainian and Russian people. Register for the free Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUld-iorD8oHdRrsG-F93vdZZX1u63sScOC
23 Feb 2023, 8pm (UK time), online: The Anglican Pacifist Fellowship‘s online Prayers this month fall on the eve of the first anniversary of the Ukrainian invasion and will focus specifically on that. The reflection will be given by Nicholas Sooy, Director of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship. The readings and prayers will mainly come from Orthodox Christian sources. Please join to pray for an end to this war and all wars! To receive a reminder 24 hours before the monthly prayers, simply email sueclaydon112@gmail.com and you will be put on the register. Join the Zoom meeting at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/94834891947
22 February 2022, 7 pm, Freiburg: Non-violent resistance in Ukraine – possibilities and limits. Lecture and discussion with Stefan Maaß, Peace Commissioner of the Protestant Church in Baden.
Church and Peace members Ana and Otto Raffai from Croatia will together with others from the Ad hoc feminist anti-war coalition stand up for peace at Zagreb’s central square on Friday 24 February at noon. They hope for peaceful encounters with passers-by. https://h-alter.org/sto-nas-ceka/pritisak-odozdo/pridruzite-se-svima-koji-ce-24-veljace-diljem-svijeta-traziti-zaustavljanje-rata/
On 24 February at 6 pm, the Peace Working Group in the church district on the Lahn and Dill, in which members of the Laurentiuskonvent Laufdorf are involved, invites you to a vigil on the Old Lahn Bridge in Wetzlar. This will be followed by a musical vesper at 7 pm in the Hospitalkirche Wetzlar. The Association of Christian Churches (ACK), the Protestant parish of Wetzlar, the Peace Working Group in the church district on the Lahn and Dill and the Wetzlar Peace Meeting take this as an opportunity to commemorate the victims of war and to pray for peace. https://www.church-and-peace.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Mahnwache-und-musikalische-Vesper-Wetzlar-AK-Frieden-Stoppt-das-Toeten-in-der-Ukraine.pdf
24 February 2023, 6:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.: Prayers for peace on the anniversary of the attack on Ukraine. An initiative of the ACK Germany, the Evangelical Alliance and “Together for Europe”, a network in which the Christusbruderschaft Selbitz and the Basisgemeinde Wulfshagenerhütten participate. Info: https://deutschlandbetet.de
On 24 February 2023, the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Fellowship of Reconciliation – German branch invites to a peace chain “Peace now!” between Osnabrück and Münster. The human chain is a symbol and food for thought for the demand for peace treaties while respecting territorial sovereignty in all armed conflicts in this world. “…every human being is needed to raise a united voice for peace.” https://versoehnungsbund.de/peace-now-friedenskette-2023
24 February, 7 p.m., Aalen Germany: The Evangelical Methodist Congregation Aalen invites you to a prayer for peace. Place: Südlicher Stadtgraben 4, 73430 Aalen. https://emk-aalen.de
24 February 2023, 4 pm at the Basilica Notre-Dame in Neuchâtel, Switzerland: The Community of Grandchamp shared an invitation to all Christian communities and their members to join together in praying for peace. This celebration is lived in communion with the celebrations organized in Bern by the Christian Churches of Switzerland. https://www.cath-ne.ch/_files/ugd/882537_dc8ccbf37235466e8a1e1de10ff4aeac.pdf
24 Feburary, 18:15: The Weierhof Mennonite congregation together with ecumenical partners invites to a vigil, silent march and Taize prayer. https://www.mennonitengemeinde-weierhof.de/jahrestag-des-russischen-angriffs-auf-die-ukraine-mahnwache-24-februar-2023/
Bread and Roses supports the actions on the occasion of the 1st anniversary of the war in Ukraine, to which important peace organisations such as Church and Peace and the DFG-VK are jointly calling us for the weekend 24 – 26 February. In Hamburg, there is to be a demonstration on 24.2.23 from the Consulate of the Russian Federation (3pm start) to Jungfernstieg (5pm). A rally by the DGB, welfare organisations and the Nordkirche will take place at Rathausmarkt on 24.2. at 4 p.m. http://brot-und-rosen.de/uploads/media/Mahnwachen_fuer_den_Frieden-o.Datum-2023.pdf
CND and Stop The War are organising a rally in London on Sat 25th February. Christian CND will be there, too. https://cnduk.org/events/stop-the-war-in-ukraine-london-demonstration/
25 Feburary 2023, 2-3pm, Amsterdam: “Peace SOS for Ukraine: Ceafire and Peace Negotiations” – Kerk en Vrede supports the call stating “We want life to be cherished. People’s lives must be spared. We believe the war must end. This can be done through a mutual ceasefire and peace negotiations. We want peace, love and light.” Read here the call at: https://kerkenvrede.nl/p/Actueel/kerkenvrede%7Cad4b5b48-d69f-4562-9006-d0a7b6ff10bb//#fd784d97-5867-4c83-96c9-f9cc54ce339b&gsc.tab=0
26 Fev, 13h, Brussels: National Event – Stop War in Ukraine! The Europe for Peace and Solidarity platform is calling for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations. In the same weekend, demonstrations will take place in various European capitals under the name “Europe4Peace”. Kerk an Vrede is supporting the event in Brussels and Amsterdam: https://vrede.be/nl/nieuws/nationale-manifestatie-stop-de-oorlog-oekraine-2602
National Council of Churches in the Netherlands calls on local parishes, municipalities and religious communities to pay attention to the occasion in their prayers, celebrations and other activities around this date in the form that suits them best. Kees Nieuwerth, Church and Peace member and vice president is also vice president of the National Council of Churches in the Netherlands. https://www.raadvankerken.nl/nieuws/2023/02/voorbede-voor-oekraine/
War in Ukraine – Voices from the International Fellowship of Reconciliation. Werner Wintersteiner and Friedrich Glasl, two well-known peace and conflict researchers and members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Austria, show in their contributions how non-violent action and resistance by various actors (can) also play an important role in the war situation in Ukraine. If “war is not a solution” – what alternatives are there and how can they be implemented in the short, medium and long term in the sense of peace-logical thinking and an active peace policy? Read more at: https://versoehnungsbund.de/krieg-der-ukraine-stimmen-aus-dem-IVB
IFOR Switzerland – MIR Suisse draws attention to vigils for peace and against war business in Bern. The next one will take place on 11 March. “The Security Policy Committee recently launched a parliamentary initiative to allow democratic countries like Germany or Denmark to pass on Swiss weapons and ammunition to warring states. This should be prevented at all costs.”: https://ifor-mir.ch/mahnwache-und-demonstration-fuer-den-frieden/
Webinar series: Conscientious objection in times of war: Connection e.V., International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR), Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) and War Resisters’ International (WRI) are starting a webinar series focusing on conscientious objection to military service in times of war this February. Dates: 9 Febr 2023, 4-5.30 pm CET, 3 March, 2-3.30pm CET, 23 March, 4-5.30pm CET. More info and registration at: https://www.ifor.org/news/2023/2/2/webinar-1-on-the-right-to-conscientious-objection-ot-military-service-in-times-of-war
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. How about these words of Jesus at the start of a week commemorating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year? Thoughts and files by Kerk en Vrede can be found at www.kerkenvrede.nl
As the one year anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine approaches, FWCC-EMES continues to hold all those suffering in the region in the Light. We offer this video of footage provided by Friend Misha on his visits to Ukraine (https://youtu.be/T3PiwZ7jyuo), as well as inviting Friends to visit our regularly updated page of opportunities to worship, contribute and collaborate in solidarity: https://fwccemes.org/news/quaker-attention-on-peace-and-ukraine
On the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine, EIRENE issued a statement: “Military means are not suitable for building peace. We ask: how do we get closer to peace?” Continue reading at: https://eirene.org/meldungen/wie-kommen-wir-dem-frieden-naeher