UGCC: Ukraine-Poland are divided not by UPA struggle but by myths about it
Sviatoslav Shevchuk called for a return to the papal formula of reconciliation – “we forgive and ask forgiveness” – and urged that the issue of Polish-Ukrainian dialogue not be handed over to politicians.
The UGCC head Sviatoslav Shevchuk said on his Facebook page that Polish-Ukrainian disputes are caused not by historical facts of the national liberation struggle itself, but by political myths about it that have been shaped in Poland.
According to Shevchuk, “today, when national egoisms are reviving, it is becoming increasingly difficult to speak about reconciliation.”
“It is important that objective historical scholarship disarm political manipulations. There were crimes and victims on both sides,” the head of the UGCC said. However, he did not specify whether he agrees that the Volhynia massacre carried out by members of the OUN-UPA was a crime.
He also pointed to the need for an objective historical study of the tragic pages of Polish-Ukrainian relations – in particular, the exhumation of victims on both sides of the conflict. According to him, many mass graves on both sides of the border are still awaiting a Christian burial. Without serious scholarly work, Shevchuk warned, politicians will always manipulate historical truth for narrow political purposes.
As the UOJ reported, Poland is demanding systematic exhumations of the victims of Volhynia. The issue of the Volhynia tragedy of 1943, when fighters of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army killed tens of thousands of Polish residents, remains one of the main stumbling blocks in bilateral relations.
