On the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, marked on January 27, European bishops issued a statement condemning anti-Semitism and politicians' truth manipulation.
“The seventy-fifth anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp encourages us to speak out against any actions that suppress human dignity: racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism. On this day, we call on the entire modern world for reconciliation and peace, to respect the right of each nation to exist and freedom, to independence and to preserve its own culture. We cannot allow the truth to be ignored or manipulated for the sake of individual political needs,” the leaders of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe and the Commission of Episcopates of the European Union said in a statement. This is reported by the UGCC Information Department.
Speaking on behalf of all the bishops of Europe, they note that despite the fact that 75 years have passed since the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp, which was opened in 1940 and became the largest place of mass destruction in the world, it still inspires horror. The hierarchs emphasize that their call for peace is extremely important now, “because, despite the dramatic experience of the past, the world in which we live is still subject to new threats and new forms of violence. Then there are violent wars, cases of genocide, persecution, and various forms of fanaticism, although history teaches that violence never leads to peace, but leads to new violence and death.”
Finally, the bishops invite everyone to pray: on January 27, at 15:00, the hour of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, they encourage them to light a candle and pray for people of all nationalities and religions who were killed in the death camps, and for their families. “Let our prayer,” the hierarchs add, “promote reconciliation and brotherhood, the opposite of which is hostility, crushing conflicts, and exaggerated misunderstandings.”