anglican focus

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Ukraine

International International

During prayer in Bucha, Ukraine, “we hear the cries of despair”

During the World Council of Churches (WCC) leadership delegation visit to Ukraine in May, an ecumenical prayer service was held in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on 12 May. The service, led by the WCC leadership, WCC general secretary The Rev’d Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC moderator Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm and Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, with participation of members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), took place at St Andrew Orthodox Church in Bucha

"I still commend my pacifist friends and admire their principled views. But I also think that those who directly resist a brutal, murderous horde are doing good," (Fr Martin Arnold, Ukrainian Catholic Church)
Reflections

“A year ago people called me a pacifist”

“A year ago people called me a ‘pacifist’ and I often thought that the profession of arms was unworthy of a Christian. Many of my friends are principled pacifists who say that any kind of violent harm, even in self-defence, is morally wrong. Since the Russian Federation’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February last year, I’ve changed,” says Fr Martin Arnold, a Churchie Old Boy and Ukrainian Catholic priest

Features

To Moldova with love

“The local Moldovans were Christians from different denominations. Their willingness to risk their lives for fellow Moldovans and Ukrainian refugees set a new bar for servant leadership. I was also inspired by how they banded together despite their theological or liturgical differences to focus on what was important – caring for others,” says Gold Coast nurse-paramedic and Christian Helen Zahos

Features

Nurse’s nerves of steel: to Ukraine and back again

“When I explained that I had volunteered in Ukraine as a nurse-paramedic, after a thoughtful pause the reporter asked…’Are you a believer?’ When I replied, ‘Yes’, his response was, ‘I figured. Nobody would go into a dangerous warzone as a volunteer unless they had faith,’” says Gold Coast nurse-paramedic Helen Zahos

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