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Russian Patriarch arrives in Poland for historic visit

PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 16.08.2012 13:20
As he begins his two-day visit to Poland, Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has said that both his and the Polish Roman Catholic Church are “ready to forgive past sins”.

Patriach
Patriach Kirill arrives in Warsaw, Thursday morning: photo - PAP/Pawel Supernak

The visit, which commenced on Thursday, marks the first time that a Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus has set foot on Polish soil.

On Friday, Patriarch Kirill will deliver a joint message with Archbishop Jozef Michalik, head of the Polish Episcopate. It will be the first undertaking signed by representatives of both Churches.

“Two Churches bearing the responsibility for the spiritual life of their nations are declaring that they are ready to forgive the sins of the past, and that they are ready to call on their people to write new pages of history,” the Patriarch said in an interview with Polish Radio.

Representatives of both Churches have been working on the declaration for two years.

The document echoes the famed letter of reconciliation sent by Polish bishops to their German counterparts in 1965.

That letter, which declared that “we forgive, and ask for forgiveness,” was the first significant attempt at reconciliation between Poland and Germany since the Second World War.

A painful past

The volatile nature of Polish-Russian relations captured headllines in Warsaw this June, during clashes between football fans at the Euro 2012 tournament.

However, the antagonism stretches back over many centuries.

In Russia, Unity Day is a national holiday that commemorates the expulsion of Polish forces from Moscow in 1612.

In the late eighteenth century, a series of partitions by Russia, Austria and Prussia (1772, 1793 and 1795) removed Poland from the map of Europe.

Two doomed Polish uprisings, in 1831 and 1863, became symbolic of a long-running struggle. Besides the executions of many participants, thousands were deported to Siberia, and properties were confiscated.

When Poland regained its independence in the wake of the First World War, a conflict ensued with the newly communist Russia.

Poland's victory in the Polish-Bolshevik War (1919-1921), saw the repulse of the Russian army from Warsaw in the so-called 'Miracle on the Vistula' of 1920. Over 16,000 Russians died in Polish POW camps between 1919-1924, with epidemics breaking out owing to poor conditions.

In August 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, signed by Russia and Nazi Germany, paved the way for the partitioning of Poland, which was carried out the following month in the first weeks of the Second World War.

The execution of over 22,000 Polish citizens – largely army officers, including reserves - in the so-called Katyn Crime, would not be formally admitted to by Moscow until 1990.

With the Red Army occupying much of Central and Eastern Europe at the end of the war, a communist regime was installed in Poland.

A Polish government-in-exile operated in London until 1990, as it had done during the war.

On 10 April, 2010, the delegation of President Lech Kaczynski flew to Smolensk to take part in commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Crime. The plane crashed in thick fog, and all 96 on board died.

In spite of the fact that the commemorations were being promoted as an important step in Polish-Russian reconciliation, sections of the Polish press soon began crying foul, with claims that Moscow – and sometimes the Polish government itself - was involved.

The conspiracy theories were fostered by President Kaczynski's twin brother Jaroslaw, co-founder and current leader of the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS).

Nevertheless, Patriarch Kirill told Polish Radio that the Russian Orthodox Church's engagement with Poland's Roman Catholic Church is “devoid of all politics,” sentiments that have been echoed by Archbishop Michalik.

According to the Patriarch, “it is important to look at the issue from another angle,” adding that “for people, reconciliation is an internal process.” (nh/pg)

tags: Church, Russia
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