Würzburg (dpa / lby) – Würzburg Bishop Franz Jung pointed out the consequences of the war in Ukraine for the whole world on Christmas Eve in St. Kilian’s Cathedral. “After experiencing the pandemic, we are once again aware that there are no longer any regional conflicts in the global world,” said Jung at Christmas mass on Saturday evening, according to the speech manuscript that had been distributed in advance. “A war anywhere in the world, no matter how far away it may seem, touches us directly.”
The consequences reached all of humanity, with missing wheat supplies to Africa, energy shortages in Europe and the disruption of supply chains worldwide. “The distant war is closer to us than we would like.”
Many longed for a ray of hope. “Because wherever you look at the moment, it looks rather dark.” Above all, the war is scary: “How long will it last? Will it be possible to limit the conflict or does it threaten to become a conflagration? We feel that we are already more involved in this war than we would like not only by supporting a people fighting for their freedom, but also by the people who have taken refuge with us to escape the horrors of war.”
Christmas is here God’s great offer of peace to the world. “This peace is reality. Whether it will also become reality for us depends on us.”
