EU Catholic bishops outline what peace in Ukraine should look like

The Presidency of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union. Photo: Vatican News

On 4 March 2025, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) issued a statement expressing strong support for Ukraine and efforts to achieve a "a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace", reports the Vatican News.

Amid deepening geopolitical complexities and the unpredictability of actions taken by some members of the international community, the Presidency of COMECE calls on the European Union and its Member States to remain united in their commitment to supporting Ukraine and its people.

The Catholic hierarchs state that peace in Ukraine can only be achieved through negotiations, and “credible and sincere dialogue effort should be supported by continued strong transatlantic and global solidarity and it must involve the victim of the aggression: Ukraine".

COMECE firmly reject any attempts to distort the reality of this aggression and stresses that any peace agreement must be underpinned by effective security guarantees to prevent the conflict from re-erupting, reports the Vatican News.

They also highlight the importance of ensuring that "the rights of all communities, including the Russian-speaking minority, are upheld and protected."

In their view, the international community must continue to assist Ukraine in the reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure, while Russia, as the aggressor, must adequately participate in this effort. They also call on the EU “to advance with the enlargement process in a timely and fair manner alongside other candidate countries”.

"As the contours of a new global security architecture are currently being redrawn," COMECE states, “it is our profound hope that the European Union will remain faithful to its vocation to be a promise of peace and an anchor of stability to its neighborhood and to the world."

As previously reported by the UOJ, the head of the SBU claimed that the European Union had imposed sanctions against the UOC.

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