War in Ukraine: Human Agony, Global Crisis, Moral Principles

The war in Ukraine has brought horrific violence, countless refugees, and unprecedented threats to global peace. The constant images of death and destruction, families fleeing for their lives, and the courage of leaders and ordinary Ukrainians move us to tears and call us to action. This war also raises serious policy questions and moral choices regarding the obligations, directions, and dangers for the United States and other nations.

The Initiative is bringing together key leaders and powerful voices with extraordinary experience and commitment to Ukraine. This dialogue includes the bishop who leads Ukrainian Catholics in the U.S., a leader working every day to help refugees, an ethicist on war and peace, and a reporter from the Vatican to help us understand this appalling crisis, its escalating human costs, and its ongoing moral choices.

They will explore questions such as:

• What is the situation in Ukraine? What is at stake? What is the road ahead?
• What is happening to pastors and people in the religious communities of Ukraine? To refugees fleeing the violence? To countries and communities receiving refugees?
• What are the responsibilities and obligations of other nations? What are dangers and limitations?
• How can each of us, the United States, and the world demonstrate solidarity with the Ukrainian people and support the defense of their land and freedoms?
• How should the principles of Catholic social teaching shape these choices? Specifically, how do Catholic moral principles on war and peace, on the use of force, and on peacemaking offer direction and caution in responding to the war in Ukraine?
• What is the message of Pope Francis, the role of the Vatican, and the mission of religious communities in this terrible time?
• What are the goals and what could be the impacts of Pope Francis’ words and actions?
• What are the ecclesial, ecumenical, interfaith, and geopolitical dimensions and implications of Pope Francis’ efforts?

Participants:

• Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., was appointed interim prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development on January 1, 2022 by Pope Francis. Since the beginning of the war, he has visited Ukraine, Hungary, and Slovakia to express Pope Francis’ solidarity.
• Archbishop Borys Gudziak is the metropolitan archbishop of Philadelphia for Ukrainian Catholics in the United States, the head of the Department of External Church Relations for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and the president of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv.
• Laurie Johnston is an associate professor of theology and religious studies at Emmanuel College and the executive vice president of the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue. Her teaching and scholarship focus on Christian social ethics, particularly questions of war and peacemaking.
• Gerard O’Connell is the Vatican correspondent for America and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History (2019). He has been covering the Vatican since 1985 and has reported extensively on Pope Francis’ response to the invasion of Ukraine.
• Tetiana Stawnychy is the president of Caritas Ukraine and the former director of the subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

John Carr, co-director of the Initiative and former director of justice and peace efforts of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, will moderate the conversation.

This dialogue will be livestreamed and live-captioned. A link will be sent to all those who have RSVP’d on the morning of the dialogue. All other accommodation requests should be sent to cathsocialthought@georgetown.edu by March 30. A good-faith effort will be made to fulfill requests.