FOR THE RECORD: UOC bishops on NATO bombing (05/02/99)

FOR THE RECORD

UOC bishops on NATO bombing

Following is the text of the statement of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada regarding the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The statement was released on April 22.

As the archpastors of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, news of NATO's decision to bomb Yugoslavia fills our hearts with great sadness and conflict.

This sadness emerges first of all because, as Christians, we must always seek peaceful means for resolving conflicts; we can look at the use of violence in conflict resolution only as a failure. This failure is particularly profound when both sides in the dispute claim to be people of God. For we must painfully accept the fact that the conflict in Kosovo is not simply between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, but is, at its heart, a conflict between Christians and Muslims. Once again history witnesses human beings bringing down all manner of tribulation and atrocity upon other human beings in the name of God. This is completely unacceptable for people of any faith tradition, who call upon the All-Merciful One as their Creator and Sustainer.

Military action, whether it is a bombing mission or a guerrilla raid, even when looked upon as a "last ditch effort," cannot be condoned by people of faith. Even those who accept such things as "necessary evils" must accept that they are evil nonetheless.

Additionally, as we consider the various news reports leading up to and including reports on the bombing, we are saddened by the apparently shallow nature of many of them, making the Serbs seem like the ultimate villains and the ethnic Albanians the ultimate heroes in this dispute. We must remember that this conflict did not emerge in this decade, or even this century; rather, it is hundreds of years old. As in all such conflicts, today's victims were yesterday's aggressors, and today's antagonists were yesterday's protagonists. This rhythm of the oppressed becoming the oppressor will be broken only if, and when, public opinion sees the truth and futility of this vicious cycle, and we understand the need to comfort both sides in their pain and to hold both sides accountable for their transgressions.

Our hearts are also filled with conflicted feelings as we see our fellow Canadians in the military service of our country - whom we pray for at every divine service - raining destruction and death upon our fellow Orthodox Christians - for whom we also pray - in the name of humanitarian justice. Furthermore, as Slavs whose homeland neighbors that of the Serbian and Albanian Kosovars, we know how easy it is to fall in love with such a beautiful land - a love deep enough to motivate one to defend one's homeland with one's very life. Instead of our hunger for justice and our love for our homeland leading us to violence, let these things be motivators to the peaceful resolution of our conflicts - for the sake of justice (which inevitably crumbles in armed confrontations) and for the sake of God's glorious creation (which is so violently disfigured by military action).

Our prayers are with the men and women of our armed forces involved in the air raids over Yugoslavia and with their loved-ones; they are with our Serbian brothers and sisters in the Orthodox faith throughout the world, and with all those innocents, of all faith traditions, who find themselves trapped in the grasp of this violence. May God's comforting presence be felt in your lives. May peace return to Kosovo. And may God's justice, mercy and peace which surpasses all human understanding reign supreme in our hearts, and in the world.

Ý Wasyly, Metropolitan
Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

Ý John, Archbishop
Western Diocese, UOCC

Ý Yurij, Bishop
Eastern Diocese, UOCC

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