During his Urbi et Orbi (city and world) address on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis asked God to “[c]omfort the wounded and all those who have lost loved ones because of the war [in Ukraine], and grant that prisoners may return safe and sound to their families. Open the hearts of the entire international community to strive to end this war and all conflict and bloodshed in our world.”
The Peace in Ukraine steering committee, a coalition of peace groups, has organized a petition for individuals to urge political leaders to take action to stop the violence and end the war. The hope is that this petition campaign will also gather necessary funds for a full-page ad in a major newspaper in order to gain the attention of U.S. lawmakers.
Use this link to sign the petition.
It will be delivered in Washington, D.C. at an event in June; stay tuned for further details.
It’s time to stop the killing and devastation.
Ceasefire and peace negotiations now!
The war in Ukraine has taken hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian lives, uprooted millions, contaminated land, air and water and worsened the climate crisis.
The longer the war goes on, the greater the danger of spiraling escalation which can lead to a wider war, environmental devastation and nuclear annihilation.
The war diverts billions that could be addressing urgent human needs.
Total military victory cannot be achieved by either Russia or Ukraine. It is time to support the calls by Pope Francis, United Nations Secretary-General Guterres, Presidents Lula de Silva of Brazil, Erdoğan of Turkey, Xi of China, and others for a ceasefire and a negotiated end to this calamitous war.
Stop the killing, agree to a ceasefire and begin negotiations!
Use this link to sign the petition.
Photo credit: Mirkur, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons