World Church Group Urges End of Battle
GENEVA — The World Council of Churches on Thursday deplored Washington’s decision to attack Iraq and called for an immediate end to the fighting in the Persian Gulf.
“This is a sad moment in history. A war of ominous dimensions and unpredictable consequences has begun in the gulf . . . a war that will cause unimaginable suffering,” said a statement by the church council’s general secretary, Emilio Castro.
“The World Council of Churches deplores the U.S. government’s decision to initiate hostilities,” Castro said.
The Geneva-based council groups more than 300 non-Roman Catholic churches in more than 100 countries.
Another international church body, the Lutheran World Federation, called on President Bush and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to declare an immediate cease-fire and begin negotiations under U.N. auspices.
Gunnar Staalsett, general secretary of the group, which includes 105 Lutheran churches around the world, said he made the appeal “for the sake of the lives of civilians and military personnel, the limiting of destruction and the achieving of a just peace in the region.”
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