Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew addressed an appeal for peace and justice in Ukraine after the Divine Liturgy at which he officiated on Saturday, November 26, in the church of Agios Nikolaos Tzivali.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, a memorial service was held on the occasion of the anniversary of Holodomor (1932-1933), of the Great Famine which in 1932 and 1933 killed between seven and ten million Ukrainians through starvation, having been deprived of their crops.
Specifically, His All-Holiness, addressing the faithful, and particularly the members of the Ukrainian Community, referred to the Holodomor tragedy, wishing that such a humanitarian disaster would never happen again.
“However, now we see the resurgence of violent and inhuman events which, although different, agree as to their barbarity. The diabolical deeds of yesteryear are repeated before our eyes in the guise of an even more diabolical war.
The current aggression of Ukraine by the Russian Federation makes us relive events of the past that we hoped would never happen again in world history”, said the Ecumenical Patriarch.
The Patriarch emphasized that whereas in the past, entire populations were deprived of their crops and suffered from famine, today, whole towns and cities are or will be at risk of being deprived of electricity and heating, particularly needed during the approaching winter.
“Commemorating the Holodomor as one of the biggest tragedies of humanity must bid us to care about every human being, recognizing in them the living image of God, and to care about the entire creation that God has entrusted to us to be its custodians”.
Read the homily of the Ecumenical Patriarch
Brother Hierarchs,
Mister Consul General of Ukraine,
Reverend Fathers,
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
We prayerfully commemorate today, as every year, the tragedy of the Holodomor, the Great Famine, which in 1932 and 1933 killed between seven and ten million Ukrainians through starvation, having been deprived of their crops. Famine is a painful and tragic situation when people are deprived of food.
This reality is even more tragic when considering, as was the case in Ukraine in the 1930s, that it was not the result of a weakness in agricultural production, that is to say, the result of bad weather and an unfavourable climate, but on the contrary the consequence of human acts with an unhealthy and pernicious intention: that of eradicating a believing and pious population.
For this reason, we commemorate the Holodomor every year so that such a tragedy will never be repeated in human history. Indeed, famine is a tragedy. It is a slow and agonizing death for all who fall victim to it.
It is undoubtedly a crime against humanity when it is planned and used to eradicate an entire population. Quite rightly, the Holy Prophet Jeremiah once exclaimed: “Happier were those pierced by the sword than those pierced by the hunger, whose life drains away, deprived of the produce of the field” (Lamentations 4:9).
A work of memory is always necessary for eradicating human disasters with the injunction: “Never again!” Unfortunately, at the time of testimony and memory, this injunction has turned into a question. Now we see the resurgence of violent and inhuman events which, although different, agree as to their barbarity.
The diabolical deeds of yesteryear are repeated before our eyes in the guise of an even more diabolical war. The current aggression of Ukraine by the Russian Federation makes us relive events of the past that we hoped would never happen again in world history.
War, which we consider an obsolete means of settling issues, has reappeared as a sad daily reality, causing countless deaths. In this regard, the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church of Crete (2016) condemned the war in these terms: “The Church of Christ condemns war in general, recognizing it as the result of the presence of evil and sin in the world”.
Moreover, it warned of the disastrous consequence of nuclear and chemical weapons: “Every war threatens to destroy creation and life. This is most particularly the case with wars with weapons of mass destruction because their consequences would be horrific not only because they lead to the death of an unforeseeable number of people, but also because they render life unbearable for those who survive.
They also lead to incurable diseases, cause genetic mutations and other disasters, with catastrophic impact on future generations” (The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World, D1).
Besides ravaging many lives, armed conflicts also destroy God’s creation. In addition to the many deaths caused by wars, war has several other harmful environmental consequences such as soil erosion, destruction of forests, and pollution of the seas, thus, inflicting considerable and severe damage on the environment, with immediate and longer-term consequences on human health and ecosystems.
The memory of the Holodomor should serve as a lesson to us today. Whereas in the past, entire populations were deprived of their crops and suffered from famine, today, whole towns and cities are or will be at risk of being deprived of electricity and heating, particularly needed during the approaching winter.
Commemorating the Holodomor as one of the biggest tragedies of humanity must bid us to care about every human being, recognizing in them the living image of God, and to care about the entire creation that God has entrusted to us to be its custodians.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came for the salvation of the world. The Gospel of Christ’s true message is love, reconciliation and mercy. And our Saviour enjoins us in His Gospel to love one another as He has loved us, specifying that “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35).
May our actions reveal us as being His true disciples and genuine artisans of peace by being particularly attentive to the fields of human justice, peace, health, education, agriculture and the protection of creation. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Mt. 5:9).
May He Who has power over the living and the dead and who rose again from the dead assign to the abodes of the righteous the souls of the millions of His servants who died as a consequence then of the Holodomor and now of the war, may He give them rest in Abraham’s bosom and number them among the righteous, and have mercy on us and save us, for He is good and the Lover of mankind.
Photos: Nikos Papachristou / Ecumenical Patriarchate
