His Holiness Kirill
Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia
Russian Orthodox Church
Thursday 13th October 2022
Your Holiness,
We, Primates and Presiding Bishops of the churches of the Porvoo Communion met in Tampere, Finland, 11-13 October, 2022. Together we want to express our horror at the war in Ukraine, particularly how deeply concerned we are at the renewed systematic targeting of civilians and local infrastructure in your neighbouring country of Ukraine by Russian military.
These are acts against humanity, violating the principles of the Geneva conventions, and they bring the war into another level of cruelty and death for the Ukrainian people. At this moment, together we call upon you, Your Holiness, to do your utmost to convince the Russian President to immediately halt these attacks and end this war. We as churches should share the joint ecumenical commitments to follow Christ’s commission to love and to protect those most vulnerable, and to demonstrate that we all, including Your Holiness, should be peacemakers wherever we are.
We assure you of our prayers and trust that you will do everything in your power to influence those making these decisions that escalate the war and other decisions made to destabilize Ukraine. For the sake of all, including the soldiers and their families in Russia, we urge your Holiness to do whatever is in your power to bring this war to an end.
Yours in Christ,
Most Revd Dr Tapio Luoma, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Most Revd and Right Honourable Stephen Cottrell, Church of England
Rt Right Revd Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, Church of Norway
Rt Revd Rinalds Grants, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia
Most Revd Dr Antje Jackelén, Church of Sweden
Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, Church of Ireland
Rt Revd Tor Berger Jørgensen, Lutheran Church in Great Britain
Rt Revd Carlos López Lozano, Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain
Rt Revd Jorge Pina Cabral, Lusitanian Church (Portugal)
Rt Revd Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir, Church of Iceland
Rt Revd Peter Skov-Jakobsen, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark
Most Revd Mark Strange, Scottish Episcopal Church
Most Revd Urmas Viilma, Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
Most Revd Lauma Zusevics, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia Worldwide
