The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC), a non-profit organization which advocates for Orthodox Christians worldwide, issued a statement urging soldiers to “lay down their arms” in Ukraine
“The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee decries the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of all Russian forces,” the statement said.
“The peoples of Ukraine and Russia are of the same family. Their mothers and grandmothers are of one common spiritual ancestry. Do the mothers and grandmothers of Russia truly desire their sons and daughters to spill the blood of their spiritual brothers and sisters? This is a war without cause and the imperialistic aspirations of one man can never justify this destructive fratricide.”
“OPAC calls for the soldiers of both Russia and Ukraine to lay down their arms and refuse to kill their spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ. The Ukrainian people have suffered at the hands of tsarist autocrats, soviet commissars, and dictatorial kleptocrats for long enough. “
“As the Divine Liturgy so beautifully states, OPAC prays ‘for the peace of the whole world, for the stability of the holy churches of God, and for the unity of all’ and we ask all churches of the world to do the same.
The statement came after an initial statement by the organization condemning the invasion.
OPAC was established to provide public advocacy for the global Orthodox Christian Church, and to promote, defend and champion Christian communities worldwide facing persecution, exclusion and prejudice.
The organization is committed to “defending sacred space, whether it be physical, intellectual, moral or spiritual; to speak for the voiceless, to listen to the unheard, and to manifest the righteous causes of Christian faithful everywhere.”
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