Joint Prayers Held at Lviv Ukrainian-Polish Cemetery
Lviv - For the fourth year, joint public prayer took place at Lviv's Lychakivskyi Cemetery, where Ukrainian and Polish soldiers who died during the Ukrainian-Polish War of 1918-1920 are buried. On 1 November 2005, Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar), head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), and Cardinal Marian Jaworski, primate of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) in Ukraine, together with the faithful came to honor the memory of the dead. Orthodox priests also joined in the prayer. This tradition was launched by "YI, the independent culturological magazine , and the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in order to reconcile the two nations.
Those gathered prayed near the memorial to Ukrainians first, and then at the burial place of the Polish soldiers. The head of the UGCC gave the following commentary: "I believe that this reconciliation prayer gives much. The very fact that we are doing this, that we are gathering and visiting the graves of each other, indicates its importance. By doing this we manifest our good will and our wish not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Therefore, something that we do today is very important, because it shows what happens when people fight each other. It shows the results. It will take very much time to heal wounds which are still deep. That is why I believe this is a very important moment."
Myroslav Marynovych, vice-rector of UCU and one of the initiators of the event, believes that, even after the official opening of the Orliat Polish Cemetery, the joint prayer is needed for the descendants of the former enemies. "If there was no continuation, if the prayers were not conducted, people would have a perfect right to say that it was a purely political act," said Marynovych. "While, on our part, it was primarily a religious act, with the help of prayer we wanted to lighten the political atmosphere created by the politicians. The time is always right for prayer. Prayer is always needed. Prayer is needed for all the souls that lay here, be that on the Polish or the Ukrainian side."
In the evening a religious procession by candlelight took place around the historical places of Lviv, where the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (WUPR) was proclaimed 87 years ago. On 1 November 1918 the Ukrainians used the moment when the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed and proclaimed the WUPR in Lviv. But starting from its first days the young country had to struggle for its independence in the Polish-Ukrainian War. Now those who fought against each other in 1918-1920 are buried together at the Lychakivskyi Cemetery in Lviv, and their descendants pray for the souls of their ancestors.
Sources: http://ukraine.radiosvoboda.org http://1plus1.tv
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