Pastoral Letter of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky to the Clergy and the Faithful [10 August 1943]
I turn to You, Reverend Fathers and Dear Brethren, in very serious circumstances.
The war, which has been going on for about four years, is coming to an end. Perhaps the moment is near when the fate of our Church and our people will be decided for many years. I feel the need to come to an understanding with You all, with you, Dear Ukrainian People. Fathers, read my pastoral letter next Sunday in all mother churches of our Metropolia: both in those where a priest works permanently, and in those visited only from a neighbouring parish.
Turning to the whole people, I have in mind primarily the older and more respectable people of each community. Primarily with them I wish to come to an understanding.
This does not mean that I disregard the thoughts and aspirations of the youth. For they are the blossom, the future of our people, for it is they who have suffered and suffer heavy sacrifices for the national cause and strive to increase these sacrifices. For more than one young person, the ideal is to give their life for the Fatherland. But you, the elders in the community, realize that youth in our times strives too much to rule and command, even removing the elders from any voice. Sometimes they simply demand that everyone obey them. Such desires are not only unjust, but can simply become dangerous for society and the entire nation.
In the youth, we must value the fervent feelings they bring to every work of theirs, but it will never be too much to remind that in managing the affairs of the public, whether in a community or in the whole nation, experience and old wisdom weigh at least as much as hot temperament and sensitive will. Undertaking to solve public affairs without sufficient experience and without the good will to seek advice from the elders, the youth exposes us all to serious danger.
Among the youth there are also elders who lead them; but we have had all too much evidence that agents of our enemies often and too easily find themselves among these leaders of the young, who simply provoke the youth into illegal acts, into reckless steps, which later wreak vengeance on the whole community.
We have even witnessed terrible murders committed by young people, possibly out of good intentions, but with disastrous consequences for the nation. We have repeatedly seen people passing orders of various national leaders to our youth and ordering to kill someone for the good of the cause. There were many such cases where the leaders of the youth themselves loudly and publicly claimed that the agents who ordered the youth to kill were provocateurs and served our enemies.
Unfortunately, such cases created among the youth a false conviction that they have the right to deprive someone of life.
Already several times I have warned all the faithful against the terrible consequences of not observing the 5th Commandment of God, which forbids killing people. Repeatedly I warned against all those passions that open the road to crime for a man, which attracts the curse of Heaven on the soul, and puts on the body the stain of innocently shed blood, a stain that no penance will wipe away. I warned against malice, against national hatred, against partisan squabbles, against the desire for revenge on enemies.
Today I am forced to return to this warning once again. The only thing that changes here is that I place this warning addressed to the young into Your hands.
You are their parents, so in an important moment of our history warn Your sons against a crime that could bring great misfortune upon the whole village.
In times when people cease to understand the holy and high ideals of Christianity, the Holy Church holds high the banner of defence of human life and property. The Church never ceases to preach the teachings of God's commandments, never ceases to warn against crimes, to threaten with God's punishment, and also to point out to nations the path of faithful fulfilment of God's will, as the only path to achieving a better future. So does our clergy in present times. Obedient to our instructions, the Spiritual Fathers have already repeatedly repeated to You the teaching about God's truth which guards the neighbour and his property.
Today, my Dears, I address You, the elders in the community, speaking to hosts and hostesses, to parents of Christian families and reminding that they are called upon together with the Church to stand guard over social order, life and property of the neighbour. They are members of the Church, so it is their duty to cooperate with the Church in fulfilling the duties imposed on them by God. Even when darkness reigned in all countries of Europe, the Holy Church through unceasing work on human conscience slowly created human culture and civilisation and created foundations on which all medieval states rested.
In that civilisational work, the clergy was helped by a stratum of older, experienced people, faithful to God's commandments. They helped the Church in work on people, fought together with it against the darkness of arbitrariness and self-admiration and slowly laid the foundations for the development of Christian principles in private and public life.
It seems to me that the present times in which we live require from the Church the same work on human society. The future of our people largely depends on the way in which the Church fulfils this task regarding the people.
And the first and most important principle of Christian culture is respect for that Commandment of the Lord which guards the life and property of the neighbour, and this principle is primarily threatened with trampling in clashes. In our times, just as in that era when the Varangians began to work in Rus' on creating the beginnings of a Christian state – we too must ensure and protect those two foundations of all Christian culture.
Therefore today, Dear Brethren, I turn to You, elders in the community, and in the name of Christ the Saviour I place under Your care and protection human life and property of those threatened with death or loss of all property.
Guard the life and property of neighbours in the name of Christian civilisation and in the name of that Christian social order which we would like to see someday in our independent united Ukrainian state. Be assured that everything done by you in the direction of love for neighbour realised in this way, will bring God's blessing to Your family and Your village. We are convinced that if in every community of our land all elder citizens take our call to heart and in moments of clashes and anarchy contribute to maintaining Christian devotion to the Lord's commandment, which must be the beginning of every beginning, Your position will draw God's blessing upon the entire Ukrainian people.
And now here are my words to You, Dear Youth, to You, Dears, who have so much good and sincere will, yet exist in such a difficult situation, to You whose trust and faith people so often abuse. Do not let yourselves be provoked into any lawless acts. After all, it is in the interest of our enemies: to incite our people to reckless steps, which can, and even inevitably will draw great harm upon our people. Do not let yourselves be incited by people who present committing acts against the Lord's commandment as a necessity to You. Remember that you will achieve nothing good for your people by committing deeds contrary to God's Commandments.
In all important matters consult with parents, consult with the clergy. After all, they wish You only good and love the Fatherland no less than You. Support social order everywhere and care for this order as if You yourselves were responsible for it. [...]
Beware of people who incite You to any lawless acts. Beware of orders that allegedly come from leaders of nationalist parties, but may only be a common provocation of our enemies.
I direct this call of mine not only to You, men, but also to women. Your task, Christian women, mothers of families, is to warn Your sons against every reckless step by which they would violate God's Commandment. If anyone should stand guard over Christian order, surely a Christian mother will not yield priority to men: they will surely want to be first in fulfilling such a holy, and in our times also important duty. Standing guard over God's order in communities, You, Christian Mothers, will save the consciences of Your sons from decline and will not let them stain their conscience with innocently shed blood; you will warn them against misfortune and indirectly contribute to the clear development of our national life. You, Christian women, who turn to the Sacrament of Holy Communion more often than men, have a great duty to fulfil regarding your husbands and children, regarding the whole nation.
Where a well-organised church brotherhood exists, let all matters about which I write in this letter be discussed there at the very first meeting after reading this pastoral letter. Let it be determined first of all whether any danger exists in this direction in the village, whether anyone is threatened with death. Then let them think what can be done to save someone’s life in this case; let everyone finally proceed to Holy Communion with the intention of conducting such important social work.
In daily prayers I beg the Almighty to give You all His blessing for the fulfilment of Your Christian duties, for observance of God's Commandments, Christian love for neighbour and that reasonable prudence which even in the most difficult circumstances allows one to steadfastly follow the goal determined by the Lord Almighty for every nation. May the blessing of God of our Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the Holy Spirit be with You all.
(+) Andrey, Metropolitan
