In response to the sad events unfolding in Ukraine which are having implications for aviation around the globe, the International Association of Civil Aviation Chaplains calls each of its members, airport chaplains around the world and all of our friends in the aviation industry to earnestly pray and advocate for peace.
From its heroic times of pioneers and through the development of commercial flights, civil aviation’s dream and ambition has always been to bring people together from many parts of the world, from different cultures, religions and faiths. Wars, particularly between nations so close as Russia and Ukraine, bring enmity between neighbours and divides families.
As a global body of people of many different faiths and traditions we call for the leaders of the nations involved to pursue the good of their people and all people and seek to restore peace. In the prayers of our various traditions, we pledge to support peace in whatever way we can and affirm our support to each person affected by this war that we might encounter on the airports in which we serve.
We express our solidarity and continued prayer the recovery of the global aviation industry from the COVID-19 crisis. It certainly does not need another global disaster which has the potential to affect thousands of workers and travelers around the world, particularly in the countries affected by this war. We pray for safety as decisions are made regarding closing airspace and for the professionals who are dealing with the operational effects of the reroutings. Most importantly, we pray for a quick and peaceful solution to this conflict we hope for a complete restauration of the freedom to travel safely around the world.
In the pdf-version of this statement below we share some prayers from major world faiths as a sign of hope and unity in the midst of these very troubling times. On the following link we’ve chosen to compile prayers for Ukraine from a wider range of faiths and spiritual expressions as well as statements from other religious organisations. IACAC Members are invited to feed this page with personal thoughts, prayers and resources.
Pierre de Mareuil
President
Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
1 March 2022