On Sept. 21-25 the capital of Ukraine hosted the first general assembly of the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions to be held in the post-Soviet space. The participants from 30 European countries discussed ways of healing the wounds of the past that hinder democratization and mutual understanding and provoke conflicts in Ukraine.
The theme of the Ukrainian conference was selected from the context of a program proposed by the German commission during its presidency in the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions. This comprehensive program (“Memory, Truth, Justice: the Challenges of Reconciliation”) is aimed at reconsidering Europe’s experience of combating violence and seeking ways to solve modern- day conflicts. There have already been several meetings as part of this program: in Berlin, where until recently a wall stood between East and West; Belfast, where fresh graffiti on walls are a reminder of the notorious troubles in Northern Ireland; and Verdun, the scene of one of greatest battles of the First World War fought on the German- French border.
The Ukrainian Justice and Peace Commission of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) readily accepted the proposal to hold the latest meeting in Kyiv. The history of Ukraine has been no less marked by violence. Untold and unknown defeats, insults, and crimes that have not been repented and forgiven remain, like a time bomb buried in the very foundations of our society, resulting in a shaky and uncertain equilibrium. We wanted to emphasize this in the topic of the meeting. We still have not made peace or come to an understanding. We are still on this path.
Stability and democracy are two different things. The only guarantee of development is recognizing the diversity of Ukrainians, reconciling their different histories, and engaging in the never-ending work aimed at eliminating discrimination against an individual or group in society and establishing conscious tolerance.
The meeting’s program was planned in such a way as to allow the topic to be examined as fully as possible. On Saturday, Sept. 22, the participants of the morning session, headlined as “Telling the Truth, or Difficulties of Overcoming Hush- ups and Propaganda,” traveled in small groups to see Bykivnia and Babyn Yar and to hear the stories of those who had lived through these 20th-century tragedies and those who are trying to maintain their memory.
By listening to others and sharing their own experience so as not to repeat past mistakes and to prevent this from happening, the conference participants sought to promote reconciliation.
THE UKRAINIAN EXPERIENCE OF RECONCILIATION
Although one cannot read Ukrainian history “without taking a dose of bromide,” to quote Volodymyr Vynnychenko, independent Ukraine has managed to avoid a lot of rifts and conflicts, such as those taking place in Northern Ireland, which, like Ukraine, is trying to rid itself of its colonial past. This is why after the meeting in Belfast we were eager to show that Ukraine also has a different experience. Ukraine is managing to preserve its territorial integrity and peace in spite of a stunning diversity of religions, ethnicities, and outlooks.
One example is Ukrainian- Polish relations. Our shared history is full of pain: Volyn, Operation Vistula, the Lviv and Lychakiv cemeteries, and, finally, the border. Yet, thanks to the strenuous efforts of various individuals, groups, organizations, churches, and government officials, numerous myths are being debunked and genuine cooperation is becoming possible. Recently a concert took place on the border. The process of reconciliation is obviously going on, but if not for deliberate efforts to reach understanding, we would hardly be in a position to be ready to host Euro-2012 jointly.
The process of Ukrainian-Ukrainian (national) reconciliation is slower. The initiatives to raise public awareness vis-a-vis our own history — recognition of the Holodomor, debates on the Ukrainian experience in World War II, Babyn Yar, the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, ecumenical initiatives, and interfaith cooperation — are gradually but steadily embracing all of Ukraine (Kharkiv, the Crimea, Odesa, Kyiv, Poltava, Donetsk, Lviv, etc.).
The trouble is that our peace is often of a fictitious, compromising, expedient, and superficial nature — from anniversary to anniversary, so to speak. We are used to going from one extreme to another: we either keep a diffident silence about our conflicts or bend over backwards to prove that things are bad here. Regularly rethinking Ukraine’s post-totalitarian and post-colonial experience is still the preserve of a handful of intellectuals. Most of us took Vynnychenko’s observation quite literally and, having taken an overdose of ideological, propagandistic, or myth- laden bromide, are in a state of sheer bliss.
RECONCILIATION AND THE CHURCH
Among the many factors hindering reconciliation in Ukraine is the purely secular approach that we must have inherited from the Soviet era. Excessively ideologized and politicized attitudes and personal gain often stifle good initiatives and cause discontent.
The faithful regard reconciliation as both a gift and a task. Reconciliation in society is based on reconciliation between a person and God, between himself and others. There can be no reconciliation without forgiveness or forgiveness without truth. In his message marking the celebration of World Peace Day on Jan. 1, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI noted: “The foundations of genuine peace rest on the truth about God and man.” Is unrepentant atheism, overt in the past and covert at present, the very factor that may be causing reconciliation to founder in Ukraine?
The church can help heal the wounds of the past. After all, that is one of its purposes. But the church can only be of help if it openly admits its own responsibility for past mistakes and offers an apology, as John Paul II courageously did for us to follow. This is why the latest conference had a special discussion on the role of the church in the Soviet past and the challenges that it faces in a post-Soviet society.
THE EXPECTED RESULTS
Understanding and reconciliation is a long, if not permanent, process. To paraphrase Yevhen Malaniuk, “It will take us years to expel the Soviet poison.” It is important to give people an opportunity to tell their stories, speak out, hear the truth, forgive, and apologize, as well as to give credit to those individuals and groups that are trying to do this every day.
The style of meetings of the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions is rooted in the old tradition of story telling, one that is almost forgotten in Ukraine. It is remembered or recounted history of a personal or family experience, rather than official speeches or reports, which can establish true communication and understanding — asking questions, jogging one’s memory, and listening without condemning or passing judgment.
“Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it” is written on a sign at the former Dachau concentration camp memorial. The Kyiv meeting of the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions is another opportunity not to forget and to remember.
The search for a solution that would be acceptable to all parties of a conflict is the linchpin of reconciliation. Patriarch Liubomyr Huzar of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said in an interview that the aim of reconciliation “is not the desire to arouse a feeling of pity toward yourself or an aspiration to take revenge against somebody but, on the one hand, the cleansing of your memory by forgiving all those who caused a certain event and its consequences and, on the other, an answer to the question of how we and others should head toward a future in which such histories will be impossible.”
I hope that the meeting debunked some myths, such as Europeans’ lack of interest in Ukraine or the uniqueness of our problems. The meeting also drew our attention to other ways of reconsidering the past, and the contact with representatives of 30 countries may help to launch joint projects.
A PRAYER IN PRYPIAT
According to tradition, meetings of the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions involve not only an intellectual examination of problems, communication with others, history, and debates, but also symbolic actions. For a long time we looked for a place to hold a joint prayer for a peaceful and secure Europe, a symbolic point that would unify both the Ukrainian participants and their guests. We did not want to be associated with a specific church so as to avoid any interdenominational friction. So we got the idea to go to Chornobyl and Prypiat on Sunday, Sept. 23, to say a silent prayer to commemorate the dead and the living. For the Chornobyl tragedy shattered the Soviet delusion and led to independence. This is a painful and symbolic place for all of Europe, not just for Ukraine. As we had expected, those who live in the exclusion zone joined us.
A RESPONSE TO THE MEETING IN UKRAINE
Meetings of the Conference of European Commissions have another specific feature: it is doomed to failure without response and interest from the host side, without the active participation of local partners. Thank God, we did not receive any refusals during the preparatory stage. Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank all our Ukrainian partners.
It is true that occasionally we received no response as such. Much to our regret, we have not yet received responses either to the Ukrainian or the German appeal to the Prypiat prayer invitation from the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches. We hope that silence is a good sign. The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches is another excellent example of interdenominational and inter- religious cooperation in Ukraine, so we are looking forward to a joint prayer and contacts.
FOLLOW-UP MEASURES
The meeting of the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions continued on Monday and Tuesday, the days set aside for working sessions devoted to the election of the conference’s new presidium, reports on the results of the 2007 joint action — lobbying for the ratification of a UN convention on the rights of migrants and their families — as well as a discussion of plans concerning a joint action in 2008 — to support the UN’s program to reduce poverty.
THE DAY’S REFERENCE
The Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions is a network of 30 national Justice and Peace commissions located throughout Europe. These commissions were formed as Catholic human rights organizations by national episcopal conferences with the goal of affirming human dignity and drawing public attention to social injustice. The conference, which emerged as a unifying platform for the exchange and coordination of actions launched by its participants, annually invites representatives of all the commissions to a general assembly. For more than 10 years meetings have been held in various European countries, focusing on different historical, public, and cultural contexts (Belfast in 2006, Lisbon in 2005, and Sarajevo in 2004).
Lesia Kovalenko is a Doctor of Law and the chairperson of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
