The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has called for a day of fasting and prayer on 24th February to mark a year since the start of the war in Ukraine.
“We call on all denominations of Ukraine to declare and hold a national fast and prayer in their religious communities on February 24 with round-the-clock prayer vigils, fasting, and active performance of works of charity,” the council said in a statement.
Smoke rises after a shelling as a car moves along a road in the frontline city of Bakhmut, amid Russia’s attack onUkraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on 19th February, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Yevhen Titov
In the statement which was sharply critical of what it described as a “Russian aggressor”, the council said that while “millions of believers pray for an end to the war every day”, the war is ongoing with civilians and soldiers dying every day.
“[M]ost experts and analysts note that the next few months will be decisive and can turn the tide of the war and bring its victorious end closer,” the statement said.
“National fasting, prayer to the Lord, and alms (good deeds) are the supernatural weapons God has given us to destroy the great evil and devilish plans. We have many historical examples of how these supernatural weapons changed the course of wars, as it was in the lives of the people of Israel, the United States, and other Christian countries. That is why it is now crucial that believers of all denominations unite in fasting, prayer, and doing good deeds (alms) for the victory of Ukraine, for its spiritual revival and restoration on February 24, 2023.”
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian Institute for Religious Freedom published data showing that at least 494 religious buildings, theological institutions, and sacred places in Ukraine have been “wholly destroyed, damaged, or looted” by the Russian military. The figure, presented at the Summit on International Religious Freedom in Washington, DC, had more than doubled since July, 2022, the insitute said.
The institute’s data said at least 120 churches, mosques, and synagogues were destroyed in Donetsk region and more than 70 in the Luhansk region. In the Kyiv region, the figure came to 70 and in the Kharkiv region more than 50 destroyed religious building were destroyed.
The majority of the sites damaged or destroyed were Christian along with five Muslim sites and five Jewish sites.
The institute said its data showed at least 143 churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate) were destroyed as well as 75 evangelical churches, 49 Baptist prayer houses and 24 Seventh Day Adventist churches.
UNESCO has said more than 240 Ukrainian heritage sites are estimated to have been damaged since the Russian invasion on 24th February last year. But a group of six UN-appointed independent rights experts said this week the number could be well over 1,000.
