We cannot forget history, but we also have no right to forget it. Instead, we are obliged to change ourselves - to find the courage within us to accept the bitter truth and pave the way for further mutual understanding through forgiveness.
This was stated in the Address of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Volhynian Tragedy during the Second World War.
Here is the full text of the document:
"On the 80th anniversary of the Volhynian Tragedy, we, the members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations, bow our heads in memory of the killed, murdered, and maimed victims of those terrible events.
For decades, we have been following the path of repentance, forgiveness, and Ukrainian-Polish reconciliation, which requires self-sacrifice, profound spiritual and heartfelt work.
Today, when shells and rockets are killing Ukrainian children, when the Kremlin maniac threatens our nations with nuclear ashes, and his repugnant propagandists call for an attack on Warsaw, the understanding, determination, and responsibility of our peoples are crucial not only for our future but also for the peace and tranquillity of entire Europe. Ukrainians will always remember the helping hand our Polish brothers extended to us during the most dramatic period of Ukrainian history. The ancient motto of the Polish insurgents, "W imię Boga za Naszą i Waszą Wolność" (In the name of God, for Our Freedom and Yours), has acquired a special meaning in the era of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Ukrainians are fighting "for our freedom and yours," against universal evil, dictatorship, and slavery, for the values of the free world, and for the very life of the current and future generations.
To preserve and enhance our common achievements, to overcome modern challenges and threats, we, the descendants of those who experienced the terrible ordeal, must lift our fervent prayers to the Lord. We ask the Lord that the sins of the past do not pass into the future, and that mutual forgiveness, mutual respect, peace, and understanding, which have now become the foundation of Ukrainian-Polish relations, remain unobscured by anything.
We cannot change the tragic pages of history, but we have no right to forget or justify them. Instead, we are obliged to change ourselves - to find the courage within us to accept this bitter truth, internalize this tragic experience, and pave the way for further mutual understanding, reconciliation, and unity through forgiveness.
Let us once again recall the call of Pope John Paul II to the Ukrainian and Polish peoples: "The time has come to free ourselves from the painful past! May forgiveness - given and received - flow like healing balm in every heart. May all, thanks to the cleansing of historical memory, be ready to prioritize what unites rather than what divides, to build together a future based on mutual respect, fraternal cooperation, and true solidarity."
May God's mercy guide us on the path of healing and healing the wounds of the past, towards the brotherly cooperation of the Ukrainian and Polish peoples!"