Freedom sprouted from the grains hidden in the palms of our hands: 8 thoughts of UGCC bishops on the Holodomor
On November 25, Ukraine will commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor Genocide of 1932–1933. To mark this occasion, the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC in Ukraine addressed the clergy, monastics, and faithful. Here are eight main thoughts from the Appeal.
1. Totalitarian Moscow has always borne hatred for Ukraine, and the genocide by famine was the bloodiest embodiment of the centuries-old ideology of Russian imperialism.
2. The method of killing by starvation was chosen deliberately. To subdue a nation of millions, bayonets and tanks are not sufficient. Establishing long-lasting domination requires weapons of mass destruction that can sow fear among generations.
3. The Holodomor of the Ukrainian people is one of the greatest human catastrophes in history. In a letter to Ukrainians, Pope John Paul II wrote about the Holodomor as a wound that affected the foundations of all humanity (cf. Letter on the 70th anniversary of the Holodomor in Ukraine).
4. Russia’s war against Ukraine has the same aim — the liquidation of the Ukrainian people and the destruction of their freedom and future.
5. The impunity for evil never goes unpunished. Ninety years ago, the world silently watched the murder of millions of Ukrainians. It gave birth to another totalitarian regime, which led to the deaths of tens of millions of people around the world.
6. Ninety years ago, the UGCC told the truth about the famine to the world community. Similarly, today, the UGCC, together with the AUCCRO, appeals to the world to support Ukraine in its confrontation against the same enemy.
7. Moscow uses grain as a weapon to take hostages and deliberately instill apprehension among needy peoples and lands. But we remember the words of Patriarch Lubomyr Husar of blessed memory that “the government is much more afraid of freedom in the hearts than of a hungry rebellion. Because a hungry person can be bought, but a free person can only be killed.”
8. Ukraine did not die 90 years ago. Freedom sprouted from the seeds hidden in the palms of our brothers and sisters. No evil can destroy this harvest. Our people protect it. It is protected by humanity. It is protected by the Lord. May the memory of the innocent victims of the Holodomor Genocide be eternal. “Because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever” (II John 1:2), may our Victory come as soon as possible.
The UGCC Department for Information
