From 18 to 19 October 2002, the awards ceremony of the Church and Civil Chapter of Reconciliation was held in the city of Przemysl, Poland. Every year, the Chapter awards prominent activists who make significant contributions towards mutual understanding between Poland and Ukraine. Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, is a member of the Chapter.
On 19 October, the Chapter members selected Jacek Kuron, a noted Polish politician, public figure, and one of the leaders of “Solidarity,” and Mykola Riabchuk, a distinguished Ukrainian political scientist and literary critic, out of 100 candidates for the award. According to the Chapter, the two were awarded for releasing accurate information about Polish-Ukrainian relations without avoiding controversial issues. Last year during his visit to Lviv, Pope John Paul II gave the awards of the Chapter to Jerzy Kloczowski, a distinguished Polish historian, and Prof. Ivan Vakarchuk, rector of Ivan Franko National University in Lviv. The Chapter consists of 30 Polish and Ukrainian members, among whom are Zbigniew Brzezinski, a famous American political scientist of Polish descent. Among those on the Ukrainian side are Myroslav Popovych, director of the Institute of Philosophy, Prof. Ivan Vakarchuk, rector of Ivan Franko National University in Lviv, and Prof. Myroslav Marynovych, vice-rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University and director of the Institute of Religion and Society. The Chapter of Reconciliation was founded on 18 March 2000 at the joint initiative of Ukrainian and Polish state authorities, church hierarchs and public organizations of Ukraine and Poland. The next awards ceremony of the Chapter of Reconciliation will take place in Lviv in 2003.
Source: www.radiosvoboda.org