In a letter to The Times, Rowan Williams raises the question of how the Russian Orthodox Church can best engage with the Russian nation over the invasion of Ukraine.Sir, Last weekend Orthodox Christians in many countries celebrated “Forgiveness Sunday”, the day before Great Lent begins. Many will have hoped to hear from the Orthodox Church in Russia some acknowledgement of the shocking — not to say blasphemous — absurdity of Orthodox Christians engaging, at this season of all seasons, in indiscriminate killing of the innocent, insanely reckless attacks on nuclear facilities (endangering their own homeland as well as the wider environment), the unashamed breach of ceasefire agreements, and an attack on one of the most significant Holocaust memorials in Europe.It is not too late for the leadership of the Church in Russia to call for (at the very least) a credible ceasefire as Lent begins. Those of us who owe a lasting debt to the thought and witness of Christian Russia through the centuries find it hard to believe that all the moral norms of warfare painstakingly explored by Christians in both East and West from the earliest ages onwards have been forgotten. The Right Rev Lord Williams of OystermouthArchbishop of Canterbury 2002-12; Cardiff
The Revd Sylvia Cortez-Masyuk will remember all those caught up in war and facing separation, fear and bereavement, in prayer as part of a service to be broadcast across 39 local radio stations in England. She will also be joined by her husband Volodymyr Masyuk, reading the Lord’s Prayer in Ukrainian. The service is being led by the Church of England’s Diocese in Diocese in Europe, which has churches both in Kyiv and Moscow. Alison Rogers, a member of the congregation of St Andrew's Anglican Church Moscow, will give a reading from John 14: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you”. Other contributors will include Fr Bohdan Matwijczuk, a priest in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Great Britain. Kyiv, and other cities in Ukraine have been facing bombardment by Russian forces who invaded last week. In her prayer recorded from a bomb shelter in the city, the Revd Cortez-Masyuk will say: “God of peace and justice, we pray for all caught up in conflicts not of their making. “We pray for those separated from those they love, anxious for the safety of others more than themselves. “We pray for those in the simple human needs that are overwhelmed in our crisis – for those in sickness, hunger, or without shelter. “And we pray for those who have died and for those who mourn.” In his sermon, the Church of England’s Bishop in Europe, Robert Innes, will reflect on the words of the Revd Canon Malcolm Rogers, Chaplain of St Andrew's Moscow. “He feels a sense of darkness is falling in Russia,” Bishop Robert will say. “This is partly a matter of things being more difficult to get in the shops, no access to foreign currency, the closing down of airspace meaning you can get start to feel trapped. In England, churches have been combining prayer for Ukraine with practical help for refugees and others suffering because of the Russian invasion.The Archbishops of Canterbury and York last week issued a pastoral letter to the clergy and people of the Church of England, calling on them to pray for peace in Ukraine.
On Sunday there will be a joint parish Holy Communion service at St Mary and All Saints' Church at 10am. Our celebrant will be Reverend Rutton Viccajee.<br>If you can't be with us at church you can join remotely by clicking on this link:<a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5253921788?pwd=MC9kNmpldmFrRSsrV1pkc1k5aU1vZz09">https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5253921788?pwd=MC9kNmpldmFrRSsrV1pkc1k5aU1vZz09</a>
THE Bishop of Coventry, Dr Christopher Cocksworth, has criticised the Government’s response to the refugee crisis in Ukraine, and has called for more to be done.Speaking to the Church Times on Wednesday morning, Dr Cocksworth said: “The UK was ill prepared for the refugee crisis that was predicted before the invasion of Ukraine, and has been slow in responding to it with the necessary energy and urgency. The Government is beginning to catch up, and that’s encouraging; but there’s more we need to do in concert with European partners to meet the scale and speed of this dire situation.”The Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, told the Church Times this week that the “shocking and horrific” events in Ukraine would lead inevitably “to millions fleeing and seeking safety and refuge in other countries, indeed we’re already seeing this happening”.She continued: “As a matter of urgency, the British Government needs to cooperate with other countries to ensure there are safe routes for asylum-seekers and plans for criminalising those who arrive in the UK without a visa (which was never a good idea) should now be shelved. Along with continued diplomatic efforts, isolating Russia politically and imposing sanctions may well be part of the solution for ending the war longer term, but for now the priority is to provide humanitarian aid where it is need and to act with compassion towards our fellow human beings.” The Government’s initial offer to grant visas to “close family members” of Ukrainian nationals in the UK was expanded on Tuesday after criticism of the list of eligible relations as too restrictive.In a statement in the House of Commons, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said that, apart from the family relations scheme, the Government planned to introduce a “humanitarian sponsorship pathway” for refugees from the conflict.Under the scheme, individuals and organisations would be able to sponsor people arriving from Ukraine. The Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, welcomed the move, but said that the sponsorship route was slow and complex and asked how it could be accelerated.Rejecting calls for a visa waiver, Ms Patel said that Russian soldiers were “seeking to infiltrate” Ukrainian forces, and so “we cannot suspend any security checks on people we welcome to our country.”Ireland announced a visa waiver on Thursday of last week, although it is unclear how many Ukrainians have travelled there as a result. On Monday, it was announced that the European Union was preparing to grant Ukrainians the right to live and work in the EU for up to three years, under the “temporary protective directive”, which has not been used before.The UN Refugee Agency reported that, by Wednesday, over a million Ukrainians had crossed into neighbouring countries. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has said that the number of refugees was rising “hour after hour”.He continued: “I have worked in refugee crises for almost 40 years, and I have rarely seen such an incredibly fast-rising exodus of people — the largest, surely, within Europe, since the Balkan wars.”The Mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, spoke on Radio 4 on Wednesday morning. “We are organising shelters, we are opening our own homes, we are renting hotels,” he said. “We are doing everything we can: we are providing them with food, with water, with medical assistance. . . The public support is overwhelming: everyone is ready to help.”In the House of Lords on Thursday of last week, Dr Cocksworth praised Coventry City Council for pledging to “do its part, should that be needed”.On Wednesday morning, he said that the city’s “charities and churches are already rising to the challenge with compassion and commitment. I’m sure that’s being replicated across the country.”Churches nationwide have joined efforts to supply emergency provisions, and several are acting as drop-off centres for supplies for refugees. In Lockerbie, in south-western Scotland, a small Ukrainian chapel founded by former prisoners of war in the mid-20th century has become a hub for donations of clothes and medicine.Dr Cocksworth praised the work of local communities, but asked whether the Government “will match that sort of British will and resolve with effective emergency immigration and asylum policies”.Around the world, faith leaders and aid organisations have appealed for humanitarian assistance.
