War in Ukraine

The church’s charitable outreach to people fleeing war, political instability, poverty and other threats is a requirement for followers of Jesus, the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a March 17 statement.

The leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States said March 15 that he hoped leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church would “open up and hear the Gospel,” which says, “Do not kill,” and tell Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop killing innocent Ukrainians.

In response to more than 2 million refugees, primarily women and children, fleeing the conflict in Ukraine in recent weeks, the president and CEO of Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services said it is “alarming to see the scale of the suffering” in the region.

Condemning Russia’s bombing of a children’s and maternity hospital in Ukraine, the Vatican secretary of state insisted diplomacy and negotiations are the only ways to prevent the situation from getting much worse.