ROME — Leaders of the Catholic and Protestant Churches in Europe have launched a joint Christmas appeal for peace in Ukraine, urging the aggressors to “stop the hostilities.”

Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of the European Catholic bishop’s commission (COMECE), and Rev. Christian Krieger, president of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) published Friday their “Christmas message for Peace,” calling on all Christians to work and pray for peace.

Recalling “the immense suffering of the people in Ukraine, and those who have been forced to flee from their homes to seek refuge from the brutal military invasion” that began more than nine months ago, the message invites all “to pray in a special way for peace in Ukraine.”

“May the Peace of Christ bring calm to the rattling of weapons and comfort to mothers weeping for their children, who had to die because of some selfish interests,” it states.

In their text, the Christian leaders refer to the ongoing bloodshed in Ukraine as “an open wound of humanity over which dark shadows of war have continued to spread, risking to widen even further.”

May Christ “unite the many families and communities that have been torn apart by hatred and violence,” it exhorts. “Tormented by cold, hunger and fear, may no one feel abandoned, and may all those fleeing the horrors of war find a warm welcome.”

Refugees from Ukraine walk on the jetty after arriving by ferry at the Romanian-Ukrainian border point Isaccea-Orlivka on March 24, 2022. (DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images)

The leaders also urge those responsible for the bloodshed to desist in their aggression.

“Moved by the terrible human suffering and guided by the virtues of wisdom, integrity and discernment, may the aggressors stop the hostilities,” the message states, so that all parties may “open themselves up to dialogue and negotiation of serious proposals towards a just peace.”

“May the message of Christmas inspire us all to seek reconciliation and peace, so that instead of walls of division and indifference, seeds of mutual respect, solidarity and human fraternity be planted and nourished in our hearts,” the text concludes.