“Totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century led the world to the tragic experience of war and political terror while ignoring the authority of God,ˮ Polish and Ukrainian bishops said in their statement. “In the name of false ideologies, whole nations were condemned to annihilation, respect for human dignity was violated, and the essence of the exercise of political power was reduced to violence alone. Today, too, we want to make it clear that any war is a tragedy and can never be an adequate means of solving international problems.”

Quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the bishops said that “actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are the orders that command such actions. Blind obedience does not suffice to excuse those who carry them out. Thus, the extermination of a people, nation, or ethnic minority must be condemned as a mortal sin.”