www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Remembering Holodomor

http://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/ukraine_and_world/ukrainians_outside_of_Ukraine/38829/

8 November 2010, 13:16 | Ukrainians outside of Ukraine
The hierarchs of the Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox Churches of USA and Canada published a joint pastoral message calling the Ukrainians of the world to honour the 77th anniversary of Holodomor, which was perpetuated by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet regime against the people of Ukraine in 1932-33. "We will pray together for the souls of the over seven million victims of this man-made famine. We will raise our collective voice against such oppressive measures and suffering being used in the name of any ideology," reads the address.

The hierarchs remind the faithful of their responsibility to remember the victims of the famine: "It is important that we remember the more than 7 million victims comprised of innocent men, women and children of a proud nation who simply attempted to defend itself from the forced collectivization policy of Soviet Russia. Borders were closed. Food and crops were confiscated. People who were defiant were shot. Their souls cry out to be remembered. Let us gather in our holy churches to pray for their souls. We unite ourselves with them in our collective holy prayer. +
We are also called to be a living voice for justice for the millions of victims of the "Holodomor". We are called to continually bring to mind, to ourselves and to the world around us, that this famine occurred as a result of the policies of a repressive and evil regime. Much of the world deluded itself of it happening at the time. Voices for justice and democracy were silenced, largely by the media who perpetuated the oppressive regime's denial of the existence of the man-made famine. Our living voice is needed to ensure that such acts of genocide are remembered and prevented from re-occurring."

The hierarchs remind that efforts to erase or minimize the horrific impact of this man-made famine continue to this day. Therefore, the address says that "our strong and assertive collective voice is needed to ensure that the sacrifice of the over 7 million victims is not forgotten and not repeated. Your hierarchs urge you to choose to be a part of the living conscience of those who have suffered. Their memory and sacrifice cannot be forgotten or minimized. The victims of the genocide in Ukraine need to be remembered and given justice and dignity by our speaking up in remembrance of them, and for other such victims of genocide throughout the world.

The great horrors of human history should never be forgotten. If we forget, we fool ourselves into thinking that humanity is better than it is and believe great horrors such as genocide and "ethnic cleansing" are overblown or even myths.

I think we can and do become numb to the everyday horrors, the media bombard us with the news of them constantly.

Great horrors, though, should make us pause, shudder and weep. Not only for the victims but for ourselves.

For the many millions who died in Ukraine, may God have mercy on them and may their memory be eternal.

It is therefore doubly unfortunate that Ukrainian President Yanukovich is actively pushing the Russian story that the Ukrainian famine was not the result of a deliberate policy of extermination, but merely an accident; and that the Moscow Patriarchate has also signed on to this whitewash of genocide by refusing to recognize Holodomor for what it was.

It makes me recall my grandparents' determination not to turn to Moscow during the turmoil within the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church in the 1930's.

Eternal Memory to all of the victims of the Holodomor and Communism.

To say nothing about the barbaratries practiced by the Moslem Turks against the Armenian Christians in 1915, nor the genocide the Russian Soviets aimed at the populace during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania...

http://genocid.lt

I wonder if they will do someting to recall the many many Ukrainians taken in slave raids over the centuries by the Tartars and sold into slavery in the Turkish empire and of course lost to the faith. Southern Ukraine was not empty for so long for nothing, until Catherine the Great brought that Khanate in Crimea to an end and stopped the slave raids that occured each year. The Moslems must have removed millions of people over the 3 centuries+ they were in the slave business, from Ukraine and Russia.

Can you find a printed quote from the Moscow Patriarchate that says this?

Ray

I doubt it. These people think they never do anything wrong & that the world is out to get them. The victimizers manage to portray themselves as the real victims.

I wanted to clarify what I implied in my post. As far as I know, it is the civil government of Russia that has tried to minimize the Ukrainian famine and not the Moscow Patriarchate. While there are likely many ultra-Russophile nationalists within the clergy and faithful of the Patriarchate, there are a multitude of examples of the intrusion of nationalism into the faith among all of us, Catholic and Orthodox alike. We should rejoice that our Ukrainian brothers can come together and pray for the souls of those who perished at the hands of the Communist oppressors. Vichnaja Jej Pamjat! Eternal be their memories!

Pastoral Letter of the Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox Hierarchy of North America on the 77 anniversary of the Holodomor - Great Famine - Genocide in Ukraine 1932-33

A CALL TO PRAYER AND FOR LIVING VOICES FOR JUSTICE

A Pastoral Message from the Ukrainian Catholic and the Ukrainian Orthodox Hierarchs of United States of America and Canada
Ukrainians throughout the world will commemorate the 77th anniversary of the genocidal famine, the “HOLODOMOR”, which was perpetuated by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet regime against the people of Ukraine in 1932-33. We will pray together for the souls of the over seven million victims of this man-made famine. We will raise our collective voice against such oppressive measures and suffering being used in the name of any ideology.
It is important that we remember the more than 7 million victims comprised of innocent men, women and children of a proud nation who simply attempted to defend itself from the forced collectivization policy of Soviet Russia. Borders were closed. Food and crops were confiscated. People who were defiant were shot. Their souls cry out to be remembered. Let us gather in our holy churches to pray for their souls. We unite ourselves with them in our collective holy prayer. St. Paul reminds us that “you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone”. (Ephesians 2:14-22) We, your hierarchs, remind you to fulfill your obligation as a member of the household of God by remembering the victims of the famine in collective prayer.
We are also called to be a living voice for justice for the millions of victims of the “Holodomor”. We are called to continually bring to mind, to ourselves and to the world around us, that this famine occurred as a result of the policies of a repressive and evil regime. Much of the world deluded itself of it happening at the time. Voices for justice and democracy were silenced, largely by the media who perpetuated the oppressive regime’s denial of the existence of the man-made famine. Our living voice is needed to ensure that such acts of genocide are remembered and prevented from re-occurring. Efforts to erase or minimize the horrific impact of this man-made famine continue to this day. Our strong and assertive collective voice is needed to ensure that the sacrifice of the over 7 million victims is not forgotten and not repeated. Your hierarchs urge you to choose to be a part of the living conscience of those who have suffered. Their memory and sacrifice cannot be forgotten or minimized. The victims of the genocide in Ukraine need to be remembered and given justice and dignity by our speaking up in remembrance of them, and for other such victims of genocide throughout the world.
We, the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches in the United States of America and Canada pray that this united pastoral message to our faithful will serve as a source of inspiration for Ukrainians to unite in prayerful observance and as a collective voice in remembering the more than seven million victims of the “Holodomor” genocide of 1932-33 in Ukraine.
May the memory of the victims of the “Holodomor” genocide be eternal.
Given November, 2010.
+Constantine
Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA

+Jurij
Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada

+Archbishop Antony
+Bishop Ilarion
+Bishop Andriy
+Bishop Daniel

+Metropolitan Stefan of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the USA

+Lawrence Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Catholic Church
in Canada

+Bishop Richard
+Bishop Stephen
+Bishop Paul
+Bishop David
+Bishop Ken
+Bishop Bryan
+Bishop John

It is also the civil government of Ukraine under President Yanukovich. This is deliberate. I also note that the Moscow Patriarchate has not uttered a single word to contradict the statements either of the Russian or Ukrainian governments. As Pravda used to say, "It is no coincidence. . . " It is part of a pattern of the Patriarchate acquiescing to the policies of the government.

Acquiescence is equivalent to tacit approval, which makes one wonder how the Moscow Patriarchate intends to garner any legitimacy among the Ukrainian people, despite the overt favor being shown to it by the Yanukovich regime.

I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who is not Ukrainian (and perhaps even some who are), who is aware of this piece of history.

As Hitler said, "Who remembers the Armenians?"

By the way, not a drop of Ukrainian or Armenian blood in me, and I remember both. When people say to me, "Never again!", I always ask them, "What are you prepared to do to make sure it doesn't happen again?"--at which point they usually shut up.

I am certainly not an advocate of the actions, both contemporary and historical, of the Moscow Patriarchate.

I am curious though, if any of our Ukrainian friends could provide any information about what if any official statements or acts regarding the Holodomor that the either the Ukrainian Orthodox within Ukraine,either Moscow or Kyivan Patriarchate, may have issued or taken part in in recent years. Thanks.

Here is a link about a very well-publicized Holodomor prayer/memorial event in Ukraine this past June:

http://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/state/national_religious_question/36188/

The UGCC, UOC-KP and the UOAC were all present but the UOC-MP did not attend, and not surprisingly.

When current president Yanukovich entered office nearly the first thing he did was delete the Holodomor information from the presidential website:

http://risu.org.ua/en/index/monitoring/society_digest/38284/

The president is a UOC-MP member.