There is a war going on, and no one knows how it will end. In this sea of violence and destruction, many are asking, "Where is God?" We want to express our conviction that the experience of facing evil cannot destroy our faith in God. God is love, and love has the last word.
With this letter, sent to the Christians of the Orthodox Church in Russia, we want to stop the hatred and destruction that is escalating in a terrible spiral. This letter is like a hand we extend with the hope that someday it will be accepted.
We talk a lot about weapons. How much effort is put into building them? How much research, conferences, strategic thinking? But ultimately the meaning of war is not about weapons, but about ideas, values, perceptions and identities. What is behind the pursuit of power? Why do the missiles fly? What is the goal? Ultimately, it is a spiritual problem. How much energy do we put into spiritually seeking solutions? As Christians, we need a spiritual perspective of the confrontation and a spiritual approach to it. This means we need to think about how we can bring God's love inside the confrontation. We Christians should always be looking for solutions beyond political and military considerations. That is what we are trying to accomplish with this letter. Our goal is peace, and that means healing maimed and broken relationships, the return of justice, forgiveness and reconciliation.
Some people think that it is too early to talk about it. But the reconciliation of Germans and Poles, which is often cited as a model, began even before the defeat of Germany, before some of those who bore the greatest responsibility were sentenced and punished, and before a long and painful process of acceptance of guilt and responsibility by the Protestant and Catholic Churches in Germany began. The process of reconciliation in Germany began with those who had previously resisted National Socialism by defending basic human rights. Small groups of people played a major role after the war. Examples are the penitential pilgrimage to Auschwitz organized by the Catholic movement “Pax Christi” or the volunteers of the Protestant “Action Reconciliation Service for Peace” movement with the initiative “let's do something good for your country”. Also important was the letter sent by the bishops of Poland to the bishops of Germany with the famous words, “We forgive and ask for forgiveness.” This happened in 1965, twenty years after the end of the war.
Often these initiatives faced tremendous resistance. Today we are grateful to them because they prepared the way for the fundamental renewal of German society, which today is based on respect for the unconditional dignity of all people. As a democratic and free society, it has regained the confidence of states with which Germany used to be at war.
This gives us hope that such a process of reconciliation is possible now that the Russian Federation is waging war against Ukraine. We do not want to wait. We cannot just stand by and watch so many people die on both sides of the front. That is why we Christians from Germany, Poland and Ukraine are sending this letter to the believers of the Orthodox Church in Russia. It is born out of our heartache and is an invitation to seek God's will together.
The meaning of the war is that Russia does not recognize the independence of Ukraine and wants its destruction. Ukrainians must become part of the Russian world or disappear. This is genocide. Why is Russia doing this? Why doesn't it allow Ukrainians themselves to run their own country? Why are Ukrainian children forcibly relocated for re-education, and why are occupied areas subjected to forced Russification? Why do Russian people think that if they don't rule Ukraine, they can't be considered Russian? Where does this hatred for everything Ukrainian come from?
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ideological vacuum and chaos of the 1990s, the Russian Orthodox Church was called upon to unite the Russian people through Christianity. However, it would be a mistake to expect Christianity to bear the same imperial fruits as atheistic communist ideology. If this is forced, Christianity will be destroyed. With every bomb Russia drops on Ukraine in the name of Christ, it kills its own Christianity.
There is talk of the war being waged in defence of traditional values. But are there really more of them in Russia than in Ukraine or the West? Divorce and abortion statistics in Russia are very high. There is not much active religious life, and attendance at church services is often less frequent than in Western countries. Does anyone really think that the Christian faith of the people of Russia and Ukraine is strengthened by bombing?
During World War II, the Great Patriotic War, Germans wanted to enslave and destroy other nations. This was dictated by racist and anti-Christian ideology. Today Russia is waging a war against Ukraine, which is justified by Christian arguments and called sacred. This is creepy idolatry and a betrayal of Christ himself. Why doesn't Russia build its culture on Christian witness of love and mercy, on unconditional respect for the dignity of every human being?
Ukraine has the right to defend itself and the obligation to protect people and prevent occupation and violence. In mortal danger, when loved ones are murdered, homes and livelihoods are destroyed, many are wounded, disabled and traumatised, when the future is uncertain, the nearness of Christ becomes a great comfort to Ukrainian Christians. It gives them the strength not to despair and to help each other. Christ's Christ's self-sacrifice also accompanies defenders on the battlefield. "Greater love has no one than to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13)
Unfortunately, the aggressive and destructive war waged by Russia, which hurts its victims to the very core with its destructive hatred, can lead to hatred of all Russian and all Russians. But never all people are equally guilty. Hatred destroys Christianity.
War means that the aggressor and the victim can no longer talk to each other, can no longer look each other honestly in the eye, they hate each other and don't want to have anything to do with each other anymore. In times of war, there is a chasm between us where there are no bridges, no relationships, no face-to-face dialogue.
Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, the priest recites the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: "THIS IS... MY BLOOD, WHICH IS SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS." Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, how many times should I forgive?" Jesus answered him, "Up to seventy times seven."
To forgive the offender means to stop hating him, to stop taking revenge on him, to stop wishing that he were worse, that he were dead. For people whose life plans have been ruined and whose relatives have been murdered, this can be difficult or even impossible. We know that God never asks of us more than we can handle. But we want to try our best to keep our Christian faith strong and pave the way for the future.
Someone has said: "Forgiveness is easier than reconciliation because forgiveness sets me free. I'm no longer dependent on my damaged relationship with my offender. Hatred and desire for revenge no longer determine my life. Reconciliation is much more difficult because it means living in a shared world with the former offender." To be free, an inner separation from dependence on the offender is necessary. This will be the decisive stage on the way to peace between Ukraine and Russia for a long time to come. Those who trust God and entrust their concerns to Him can more easily achieve this inner freedom.
But that is only the first step on the way to reconciliation. We must think about that today too. We fight for an end to hate and crime, but not to people who - before God - are our brothers or sisters. Ultimately, forgiveness means an outstretched hand, an offer of a renewed relationship to the perpetrator.
In the mystical tradition we find the image of God hiding his face when he weeps. And he weeps because he loves. He weeps because he sees how people to whom he has given freedom and thus responsibility are selfishly abusing it and causing terrible suffering to others. God has revealed His will, but He does not take away people's freedom and responsibility. However, God's love and God's weeping are a passionate plea for repentance. When Saul persecuted Christians, Jesus appeared to him and asked him: "Why are you persecuting me?" And Saul suddenly realised the immensity of Christ's love, converted and became Paul, proclaiming the love of Christ: "Faith, hope and love... But the greatest of all is love" (1 Cor 13:13). We want to try to witness the love of God that calls us to conversion.
We pray for the conversion, not the death of our enemies. We do not want the destruction of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, but their healing. We pray for a Russia in which living Christianity will contribute to respect for the dignity of every human being and the building of a civilization of freedom and love...
But without truth, this is not possible. We cannot pretend that nothing bad has happened. The perpetrator must look the victim in the eye and see the wounds. He must learn to see his role from the victim's perspective. This is the beginning of repentance. Guilt must be admitted, repented of and, if possible, repaired. Repentance means taking on the burden of healing the relationship. It is about turning away from the path of being a perpetrator and, in this sense, becoming a different person. This can be a very long process.
Without a socio-political situation in which it is possible to speak publicly and truthfully about guilt and responsibility and to enforce justice, reconciliation at the societal level is not possible. Without holding those responsible in politics, on the battlefield and in ideology accountable for the immense suffering they have caused, no new trust will emerge in society and between our peoples.
Pay off debts? Pay for a life that has been destroyed? Money can only do this to a very limited extent. It cannot be done by paying with the death penalty. But it is possible by living in the spirit of repentance, by working to heal the wounds and by paying the price to restore the relationship. This price refers to money only in the sense that we use all our resources to enable an honest life in a shared world.
But regardless of whether these conditions are met, the offer of a new relationship remains. That is the most important thing.
If we look into each other's eyes and weep together over the terrible suffering that has occurred, we can carefully begin to mend the world and create a just peace. After the fall of communism in the 1990s, religious life in the Orthodox Church in the countries of the former Soviet Union had to be completely rebuilt. Often there was no religious culture left. External structures can be rebuilt more quickly than a culture of faith that comes from the heart. We all need a culture of faith that trusts in God, who is love. We need a civilization of love in Russia, in Ukraine and in the West. That is our common responsibility.
In Western Europe, where the churches have been less persecuted in the past century than in Eastern Europe, the culture-forming power of the churches is weakening. There are many reasons for this, both inside and outside the churches. Many of our problems are not unknown to the Russian people. Together we are called to proclaim the Gospel. We know that there are many Christians in the Russian Orthodox Church who do not want the Church to be politicised, but who seek Christian faith, hope and love, and the closeness of God in the sacraments. There are Christians in Russia and in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, Russians and Ukrainians, who oppose this war and who have often paid dearly for their beliefs, have had to go to prison or emigrate. We want to assure them of our closeness and encourage them not to be afraid, to trust in God and to seek paths of peace.
We want to say to all people in Russia that we believe that a common, peaceful future is possible.
We need silence and prayer to hear God's will, to be ready to follow Him and leave everything else behind. We need to pray for one another. We know that faith is empty if it is not followed by actions. Let us look for suitable ways!
Oświęcim, 30.October 2024
First signatories:
Ks. Manfred Deselaers, Centrum Dialogu i Modlitwy w Oświęcimiu
Gerold König, Pax Christi Deutschland
Dr hab. Robert Żurek, Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe
Ks. Stefan Batruch, Fundacja Kultury Duchowej Pogranicza
Archpriest Andrey Kordochkin, “Mir Vsem”
Bp Edward Kawa OFMConv, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Lviv
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If you would like to sign this letter, please write to: lettertorussia2024@gmail.com .
Please provide your name, institution, city and country (where appropriate) and agree to the publication of this data in the list of signatories on the website www.lettertorussia.eu. Please write Ukrainian or Russian names also in Latin transcription.
First of all, we appeal for support to Christians from Germany, Poland and Ukraine. But people from other countries can also express their solidarity by signing. We do not publish the names of persons living physically in Russia. Instead we write: “Anonymous Russian Priest”, “Anonymous Russian Christian”.
If you would like to comment on the letter, please also write to lettertorussia2024@gmail.com.
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