The German Episcopal Conference has expressed its concern about the situation in Ukraine in recent days. In a letter sent to the archbishop major of Lviv, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, and the archbishop of Lviv, Cardinal Marian Jaworski, the president of the German bishops, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, expressed solidarity “with those striving peacefully, with moderation and reasonableness, to find a solution to the difficult situation”. It is a situation, stressed Lehmann, that “it is possible to save” “only if everything is done to make the genuine will of Ukrainian electors prevail”. “What’s at stake at the present time is freedom and democracy in Ukraine. But that’s not all”, Lehmann added: “The stability and integrity of the whole of Europe are also at stake. The peoples and states of our continent must clearly affirm that only the principles of law and democratic self-determination can constitute the foundation of a common and peaceful development”. Cardinal Lehmann gave assurances that he was close in prayer to Husar and Jaworski and “to all the Christians who are devoting themselves to the cause of peace and justice in your country”. The Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainian Catholics of Byzantine rite in Germany and Scandinavia, Msgr. Petro Kryk, has also spoken out on the question of the electoral crisis in Ukraine, exhorting the faithful to pray for justice and peace in the country of the former Soviet Union. “The world is looking with anxiety at developments in Ukraine he said ; the country has begun to realize such fundamental principles as freedom and self-determination. But with the presidential elections the reports of independent observers have led to justified doubts being raised about the government’s respect for these principles”.
