UGCC Head thinks that there should be some memorial in Lutsk dedicated to the victims of the Volyn tragedy

The absence in Lutsk of some memorial to the victims of the Volyn tragedy surprised His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk).  On the Polish side, the victims of the tragedy are honored but in the Volyn area, the whole truth has not yet been said.

He related this during a March 26^th meeting with students of Lesia Ukrainka Eastern European National University. The meeting was held in Lutsk as part of UGCC Head’s canonical visit to the Lutsk Exarchate.

“I wanted to pray in Lutsk at some memorial for the victims of the Volyn tragedy.  And it was surprising for me to discover that such a memorial does exist on the Polish side, but there is none on the Ukrainian side,” expressed his disappointment His Beatitude Sviatoslav.  He said that in Poland the Ukrainian victims are commemorated, while on Volyn lands there is still so much talk, yet all the truth is still not said.  UGCC Primate believes that respect from the one and the other side is very important in order that one can advance in the realm of Ukrainian - Polish relations.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav thinks that the truth about the Volyn tragedy was unspoken for decades and it still remains a wound which hurts.  “This wound can only be healed in a spiritual realm – through mutual forgiveness. The remembrance of this event should serve to reconcile two brotherly peoples,” believes UGCC Primate.

We remind readers that the Synod of Bishops of Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, in its Appeal to Faithful and All People of Goodwill on the occasion of the 70^th anniversary of the Volyn tragedy, urges the cessation of political manipulations regarding this dramatic page of history and a mutual forgiveness by both nations.

“The killing of brothers during 1942-43 in Volyn demands first of all a Christian evaluation… The Christian evaluation of the Volyn tragedy, as well as injustices in the relation between Ukrainians and Poles, which preceded or were caused by it, demands from us a definite condemnation. From the Christian point of view, censured are the policies that were directed at depriving  Ukrainians of the right to self-identity in their own native land as well as the armed violence towards the Polish residents of Volyn,”  emphasizes the Synod Appeal.

UGCC Department of Information per materials of www.volynnews.com