The EKBO and the Archdiocese of Berlin hosted a prayer for peace at St. Mary's Church in the center of Berlin on the evening of February 23rd. In addition, there was space for petition and mourning in prayer, along with remembrance of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This was a moving evening with an open atmosphere that gave a lot of space for the grief of all those affected by the war.

Among the guests were Dennis Buchner, President of the Berlin House of Representatives, Cornelia Seibeld, Vice-President of the House of Representatives, Embassy Counselor Oksana Dubovenko from the Ukrainian Embassy and our Ukrainian friends from the Protestant St. Mark's Congregation in Berlin Steglitz.

It was the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Since then, people have been fleeing, suffering, and dying. Since then, around one million children, women, men, and their families have been forced to flee Ukraine. According to counts by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR,) the war has claimed at least 7,200 lives and injured tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians as of February 12, 2023.

Bishop Christian Stäblein said: "One year of the war. We stand by your side. With lamenting and weeping. With help, prayers, and everything we can do. We stand with the longing for peace. We stand with Ukraine.