Jews%on%Euro+Maidan% - MAXIMILIAN KOLBE Stiftung · 2014-09-04 · Jews%on%Euro+Maidan% •...
Transcript of Jews%on%Euro+Maidan% - MAXIMILIAN KOLBE Stiftung · 2014-09-04 · Jews%on%Euro+Maidan% •...
Jews on Euro-‐Maidan
• Jews had formed their symbolic “Jewish Hundred” on Euro-‐Maidan
• Some rabbis prayed • Three Jews were killed by
governmental snipers
Jewish PosiBon The main rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine Jacob dov Bleich: «The main danger for Ukrainian Jews flows not from alleged ‘Ukrainian naBonalists’, but from real Russian provocaBons».
The former dissident, the Head of the CommiPee of the Ethnic CommuniBes of Ukraine Joseph Zissels: «In Ukraine, none erupBon of anB-‐SemiBsm had been observed».
Мuslims on Euro-‐Maidan
• There was a separate Crimea-‐Tatar “kurin” (team) on Euro-‐Maidan.
• Muslim mullahs oVen prayed on Maidan.
Muslims on Euro-‐Maidan
• The Leader of Crimean Tatars Mustafa Djemilev and the Head of Medjlis Refat Chubarov acBvely talked to Maidan
PosiBon of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Rel. OrganizaBons AVer
the AnnexaBon of the Crimea
• Statement on 2.03.2014: «We call the Russian Government to refuse from the military or any other interference into the internal affairs of Ukraine that is not in accordance with the internaBonal order and bi-‐laPeral agreements. The Russian rulers have to understand their responsibility before God and the humanity for possible consequences of the military conflict on the Ukrainian land
Complicated situaBon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the
Moscow Patriarchate The Church found herself “between two fires”; these are (1) the loyalty to her spiritual leader, and (2) the loyalty to her faithful The lePer of Metropolitan Onufriy to Patriarch Cirill on 2.03.2014: «I ask you to raise your voice on behalf of territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state”.
Those events became the result of the inner poliBcal crisis He appealed to the Ukrainian government to restrain from using violence No single word criBcal toward aggression of Russia in Ukraine
PosiBon of the UOC (MP) Hierarchy Appeal of Bishop Filaret of Lviv and Halychyna of the UOCh of MP to PuBn on 3.03.2014: “Such acBons are the direct violaBon of all principles of internaBonal law, rights of freedom, human and ChrisBan values… We see the total craziness in what is going on [in the Crimea]”.
Statement by Metropolitan AugusBne, the main Chaplain: “As a ‘military’ Metropolitan, I bless our Army to defend its country… It was not we who invaded Rostov-‐na-‐Donu or Smolensk (Russian ciBes)”
PosiBons of Other Churches Patriarch Filaret of the UOC-‐KP: “During his speech on March 18, PuBn violated three God’s commandments: you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, you shall not covet your neighbor’s house (Ex. 20:15-‐17)”
Patriarch Sviatoslav of the UGCC to all religious leaders of the world: “We call upon you to be in solidarity with us in this difficult Bme when the Russian troops, in violaBon to all the agreements, invaded into the sovereign territory of Ukraine. In our country, there is no linguisBc, ethnic or religious discriminaBon”.
Statement of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Rel. OrganizaBons
on the SituaBon in the East of Ukraine 10.07.2014
• All people with unauthorized arms have to lay down their arms and stop bloodshed
• Territorial integrity of Ukraine is a naBonal value, and it would be a sin to violate it
• The Council blame any religious persecuBons or discriminaBon in Donetsk and Luhansk regions
• We call to mercy and prayer
Let us summarize: In difficult Bme of 2013/14, the Ukrainian Churches…
• Stood for truth and opposed its distorBon commiPed (1) by the Yanokovych’s regime of Ukraine itself and (2) by the PuBn’s regime. It’s impossible to bring peace on the basis of lie.
• Supported the dignity and legiBmate rights of people and opposed using violence against them by the Ukrainian government
• Transformed Maidan as a civic protest into the place of prayer. • Supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine, opposed the
aggression of the RF against Ukraine, and approved the legiBmate right of the Ukrainian army to defend the naBon
• Opposed any violence or discriminaBon against peaceful people on the territories in conflict
Remembrance, Repentance and Forgiveness
• We cannot imagine the Role of a Church without Remembrance, Repentance and Forgiveness
• Symbolism of the Polish and Ukrainian Military Memorials on the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv: Common prayers since 2002
Remembrance, Repentance and Forgiveness
• Clouds created by poliBcians “gone with the wind” by common prayers led by Catholic hierarchs
Healing Historical Wounds with Germans
• Common Ukrainian-‐German prayers on the military memorials in Potelychi, Lviv region 8 May 2005. Organized by JusBce and Peace Commissions of Germany and Ukraine.
What about the Healing of Historical and Present Wounds with Russians?
• I am criBcal toward the aggression of the RF against Ukraine • I am shocked by the hatred of Russians toward Ukrainians and for their support
for the Russian aggression. • I cannot understand how the naBon of Tolstoy, Dostoyevski and Chekhov may
degrade to such a miserable state. • But how it was possible that the naBon of Goete and Heine degraded to the
“brown beast” state? • How it was possible that my naBon of Taras Shevchenko and Lesia Ukrainka
degraded to the besBal state during the Volyn massacre of 1943? • And what is the way out of this devilish state?
What Is the Way Out? • The example of the German naBon is paradigmaBc:
denazificaBon, repentance and forgiveness • Nobody in the USSR took responsibility for the fact that
there were two “dancers” in the bloody “dance” of the WWII: Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s USSR.
• The robe of a Winner in the war covered the atrociBes of GULAG and Holodomor, invasion in Poland and Finland, humiliaBon on German civilians, especially women, at the end of the war.
• No single naBon in the former Soviet Union took responsibility for that. Non-‐Russian naBons legiBmately point at Russia as a main benefactor of the Communist empire. But Russians also legiBmately say: “We were not alone. And many naBons were carried away by the communist idea”.
What Is the Way Out? • We all in the Soviet Union were “born in October”. Yanukovych’s
regime had its roots in the communist past. And PuBn’s regime has its roots there.
• KGB was not criminalized for its atrociBes – vice versa, it is a ruling force in modern Russia.
• But non-‐repented crimes tend to repeat themselves. The craziness of PuBn’s policy is deeply rooted in communism as well.
• God didn’t create criminal naBons – it is human sinfulness and false ideologies who are responsible for devilish transformaBons of the naBons.
• So decommunizaBon of the former communist naBons (Russians to be menBoned the first) is sine qua non for bringing peace to this part of the world.
What Is Lacking? • But it’s not enough to criminalize the communist acBons.
This is only a part of the soluBon: necessary, but not exhausBve.
• The Church answers this quesBon very clearly: what is lacking is repentance and forgiveness.
• It is only a vicBm who can forgive. A perpetrator cannot do that in principle.
• All the naBon of the former Soviet Union feel themselves as vicBms. And they are. So what about their moral responsibility to forgive?
• Be realisBc: I cannot expect massive forgiveness of Russians in hearts of Ukrainians at the present moment. Why? Because we don’t see the Russian repentance. However, I have a dream…
I Have a Dream • There will come one glorious day when representaBves of all
the former communist naBons gather together to sign up the Act of ReconciliaBon.
• The laPer will include: • recogniBon of one’s own guilt – everyone according to the level of that guilt;
• condemnaBon of the communist ideology as a plaxorm that jusBfied those criminal acts;
• mutual repentance, asking forgiveness and offering it.
• That will be the soluBon not only for the present Russian-‐Ukrainian crisis. It will be the moment of release from our history and giving it to the hands of our Lord.