Switzerland's national churches show solidarity: Presidents of Swiss Confederation, National Council and Council of States call for pause for peace
Bern, 04.03.2022 - As a sign of solidarity with the people affected by the war in Ukraine, all church bells in Switzerland will ring for three minutes at 10am on 9 March. Switzerland's Bishops' Conference, Protestant Reformed Church and Christian Catholic Church are asking the country's population to pause for peace during the three minutes. President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis, together with National Council President Irène Kälin and Council of States President Thomas Hefti, is supporting this campaign.
The war in Ukraine has brought immeasurable suffering to the population there. Many people have lost their lives or been injured. Hundreds of thousands have had to leave their homes and flee their homeland.
People in Switzerland care deeply about the fate of people in Ukraine. Presidents Cassis, Kälin and Hefti are impressed by how much the people of Switzerland are doing to help Ukrainian refugees. As mandated by President Cassis, Swiss Humanitarian Aid has already sent a first consignment of aid to Warsaw. From there, the relief supplies will be dispatched to those in need.
The three presidents will pause for three minutes next Wednesday at 10am to express their solidarity with the people in Ukraine. During these three minutes, all church bells in Switzerland will ring.
Switzerland's three national churches have launched this campaign of solidarity to express support for the people in Ukraine and to protest the war. Cassis, Kälin and Hefti have thanked the churches for this display of solidarity. The three presidents call on all of Switzerland to join the churches in their three-minute pause for peace, during which church bells will ring out across the country.
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