On May 8, 1945, Europe emerged from the devastation of World War II. Eighty years later, the scars of that conflict and the subsequent occupation of Eastern Europe are still reminders of the immense cost of war and the importance of lasting peace.
As Europe and the world face new wars and conflict, including the war in Ukraine, conflicts in many other places, and rising political tensions, the vice presidents of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Europe are calling on churches and political leaders to be active peacemakers.
In a message shared on May 6, Tamás Fabiny, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary; Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany; and Arnfríður Guðmundsdóttir, professor of systematic theology at the University of Iceland, reflected on Europe’s hard-won peace, the wounds of history, and the urgent need to work for solidarity and peace.
The vice presidents committed to working “tirelessly for justice, peace, and reconciliation, not as passive observers but as active peacemakers.”
They also called upon world leaders to “pursue just and peaceful reconciliations to all conflicts and to protect the most vulnerable. And we call upon churches across all of Europe to pray and work for peace, supporting all efforts to bring an end to violence and work for transformative peace.
“We do this in faith, encouraged by Christ’s words: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9).”
