A Cry for Peace and Justice from the Eastern Catholic Bishops of the United States
We, bishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches in the United States, gathered in prayer and dialogue at our annual assembly in St. Louis, express solidarity with our longsuffering brothers and sisters representing different confessions in countries where our communities originate. We are anguished by the passion they are enduring on account of war, persecution, assault against human dignity, and violation of personal and religious liberty.
We express deep gratitude to Catholics and all Americans of good will for their prayer, advocacy for justice and peace, and humanitarian aid for all those victimized by escalating hostilities and autocratic rule, from India to the Middle East, from Ukraine to the Caucasus.
We echo Pope Leo XIV in calling the world’s political leaders to begin a “disarmament of heart, mind, and life.” Like the Pope, we insist that stability and peace can be built “only through a reasonable, authentic, and responsible dialogue.” We appeal to those in power in the United States and globally to protect and defend the innocent and vulnerable and engage in diplomacy to forge just and lasting peace.
Together with the Holy Father, we beseech all Americans to remain steadfast in both spiritual solicitude with and concrete assistance to all those suffering from warfare, torture, and either political or religious oppression. For the Lord Jesus Himself calls us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and welcome the refugee—especially during Lent.
What we are witnessing in our home communities could easily bring us to despair: churches bombed; clergy and faithful killed; innocent millions forced from their homes. Houses and apartments, hospitals, schools, and roads are destroyed, entire cities wiped out, children abducted. Hundreds of thousands slain, countless maimed, millions traumatized. Torment, rape, and massacre. The menace of genocide.
And yet, together with them, we do not lose hope! Instead, we find inspiration in those who are overcoming great hardships. Worlds apart, our suffering brothers and sisters bear witness to us, at great personal cost, the truth of God’s gifts of human dignity and of mutual love amidst desperation. These words of St. Paul could well be said of them: they are “afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor 4:8–9).
Indeed, the witness they bear is truly apostolic. They forge our faith and strengthen our common hope. And that hope is not in an abstraction. It rests in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, a Brother, who suffered and died, who has risen from His grave, and who comes to us and meets us. We believe in the Lord who trampled death by His death and gives to us eternal life.
In anticipation of His and the whole world’s Resurrection, we proclaim “Christ is risen! Indeed, He is Risen!”
Signatories
Most Rev. William Skurla
Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh
Most Rev. Borys Gudziak
Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia
Most Rev. Joy Alappatt
Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of St. Thomas
Most Rev. Benedict Aleksiychuk
Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saint Nicholas in Chicago
Most Rev. Francois Beyrouti
Bishop of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton
Most Rev. John Michael Botean
Bishop of the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of St. George in Canton
Most Rev. Artur Bubnevych
Bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix
Most Rev. Kurt Burnette
Bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic
Most Rev. Paul Chomnycky
Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford
Most Rev. Bohdan Danylo
Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma
Most Rev. Joseph Mar Barnaba Habash
Bishop of the Syriac Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance
Most Rev. Gregory Mansour
Bishop of the Maronite Eparchy of St. Maron in New York
Most Rev. Mikaël Antoine Mouradian
Bishop of the Armenian Eparchy of St Nareg in Glendale
Most Rev Robert Pipta
bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma
Most Rev. Nicholas Samra
Emeritus Bishop of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton
Most Rev. Elias Zaidan
Bishop of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon in Saint Louis