The Conference of Christian Churches of Ukraine declared its support for the position of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance in the search and exhumation of Polish burial sites.
The text of the appeal was published by the Institute of Religious Freedom.
Church representatives called on state authorities to support the good intentions of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance and to find an opportunity to organize such qualified work, despite all the challenges of wartime.
“We, members of the Conference of Christian Churches of Ukraine, are closely following the newly developed case of the need for mutual and proper Christian commemoration of the victims of the Ukrainian-Polish armed conflict of World War 2 and welcome the recent statement of the leadership of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance on proactive steps to organize search and exhumation works related to Polish burials on the territory of Rivne region. The stated intentions correspond to the content and spirit of the broadest public sentiments in Ukraine, based on Christian principles and the foundations of national policy in this area.
It has been proven more than once that Ukraine, a victim of multiple historical crimes and wrongs, deeply shares the pain of the memory of other nations and consistently expresses primacy in healing such wounds. The matter of proper commemoration of the dead is beyond any discussion as it is in line with our national and spiritual tradition.
We call on our state authorities to support the good intentions of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance and to find an opportunity to organize such qualified work, despite all the challenges of wartime. Despite the bloody war waged by Russia, and perhaps even in spite of it, Ukrainians are able to respond to the request of our Polish friends in a dignified way at such a time,” the authors of the statement note.
At the same time, they called on the Poles to properly honor the sites of memory for Ukrainians on the territory of Poland and to restore the memorial signs that have been damaged.
“Let us help and forgive each other – this fundamental principle remains an inviolable testament of the great spiritual leaders of Ukrainians and Poles. In the spirit of that testament, we call on our Polish brothers to show full reciprocity in properly commemorating the sites of memory for Ukrainians on the territory of Poland and restoring those memorial signs that have been damaged.
We ask you not to allow any political contests in this field. Ultimatums, intransigence, and recklessness will only work in favor of the evils targeting both our nations. Let’s act to save each other.
Let’s do everything possible and depend on each of us with joint efforts, so that the victims of this bloody, inhuman, anti-Christian struggle that took place 80 years ago will convincingly say to us “never again”, and we, now beings, will accept this command in our minds as a fundamental imperative to act , having previously cleared our minds with a sincere Christian act of forgiveness with the request: “forgive us – and we forgive,” the statement said.
