The resolution was adopted during the alliance’s annual gathering in the US city of Birmingham, Alabama, earlier this month, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
'Unprovoked and unjusitifed invasion'
In the document, the General Council of the Baptist World Alliance states that it “condemns the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine by Russia, beginning on February 24, 2022, and leading to the current devastating war on Ukrainian territory.”
'Targeting of civilians'
The BWA adds that it “is horrified by the huge loss of life, especially the targeting of civilians, and the destruction of property and infrastructure—including the wanton destruction of undefended houses of worship—that has resulted from indiscriminate Russian attacks on Ukraine’s cities, towns, and countryside.”
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance further says that it “grieves for the thousands of soldiers serving in both Russian and Ukrainian military forces who have lost their lives or been injured because of this war;” and “laments the human cost in terms of the over 14 million Ukrainian men, women, and children forcibly displaced from their homes, becoming either Internally Displaced Persons or fleeing to other countries.”
The BWA adds that it “is concerned about the ongoing restrictions on freedom of religion or belief occurring in Russian-held territories of Ukraine,” such as the Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine.
Call for 'peace with justice'
The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance states that it “rejects the nationalist ideology in Russia that has led to its aggressive action in Ukraine and its threats to other neighbouring states,” and “supports all initiatives for a peaceful resolution to this war but believes that it must be a peace with justice and that this must include the restoration of all pre-2014 Ukrainian territory and reparations made for war damage.”
Call for EU, G7 to redouble support of Ukraine
Finally, the resolution “calls on the European Union, G7, and other intergovernmental entities to redouble their efforts to support Ukraine.”
Established in 1905, the World Baptist Alliance brings together 245 Baptist conventions and unions from 128 countries, comprising 49 million people.
Monday is day 152 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, baptistworld.org, risu.ua