It is hard to comprehend that it is four whole years since the brutal attack by Russia on Ukraine. I remember visiting Kyiv and a town near Bucha in 2024, and learning from witnesses of the horrors perpetrated there. I recall many visits to the Ukrainian Cathedral and Welcome Centre in London, including the formal opening by King Charles and Lady Zelenska. I cannot fathom the horrors the people of Ukraine are going through, why this cruel war against them is still being prosecuted, or the barbarity of the deliberate, carefully targeted and calibrated attacks on civilian infrastructure and personnel. The courage and resilience of the country, its people, its leaders and its military is astounding.
This morning an Inter-Faith Prayer Service for Peace in Ukraine was held at the cathedral. Ten of us, faith leaders from across many denominations, were asked to compose a prayer on a particular theme and share it at this solemn gathering, which was attended by Ministers of Parliament, diplomats, media and many, many displaced people from Ukraine. Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski guided us with few words and much feeling. The Prayerful Reflection sung by the Ukraine Choir was utterly beautiful, and totally heart-rending.
But I was most moved by Bishop Kenneth’s closing request: that we pray quietly after the formal event ended next to three candles lit by the UK Minister of Defence and a senior Ukrainian official early in the morning to correspond with the hour when the first Russian missiles landed. ‘Pray,’ he said, ‘for the grieving, the wounded, the exiled, the children, and especially for those who have no one to pray for them.’
Below is the formal prayer I was asked to write, following the brief given to me, and recite during the formal service. It is written (partly) in anger:
A prayer for justice and peace – addressed to leaders who do not practise them
God of life,
Whose sacred spirit flows through all life,
Who gives life to all creation, and breath to every human being,
Whoever and wherever they are, and to whatever nation they belong:
God who loves, like us, to live with justice, mercy and peace.
Aim this prayer at the hard hearts of those who use their power
To kill and wound and dispossess,
To make cities and landscapes desolate,
To drive thousands from their homes
And divide millions from those they love:
Make this prayer detonate in their hearts
Breaking apart their cruelty and vainglorious conceit.
May their hearts be exposed, raw and defenceless, to the raw and bleeding suffering
Of those to whom they have brought cold, fear, injury, loneliness, exile and grief.
May their eyes see and their minds comprehend
The devastation they have wrought and the destruction they sow
Like landmines across the future
By unjust, pointless, merciless war.
Then may they, and we, see too the strength
Of those who, in resisting them, uphold the love of life,
Love of their dearest, mercy for the wounded,
Love of their homeland, compassion for the homeless,
Care for the exiled, the children, even the animals and trees,
The courage of those who will not let goodness
Be bombed out of their spirit or driven from their soul.
Then may their hearts be opened; may they be moved
To use the powers they have wielded for death and devastation,
To bring justice and restoration, hope and peace.
We know, God, that this is your will.
May it be our will, too, here on this disputed earth.