Closing statement by Archbishop Antony (11/23/03)

THE 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAMINE-GENOCIDE IN UKRAINE

Closing statement by Archbishop Antony

Following is the text of the closing statement by Archbishop Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. at the 70th anniversary observances of the Famine-Genocide held in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Your Eminence, Your Grace, representatives of the government of Ukraine and the United States of America, Reverend Clergy, and ladies and gentlemen:

Glory to Jesus Christ!

We come now to the conclusion of our commemoration of the victims of one of the most evil acts of human history - man against his own kind - the artificial and genocidal Famine created against the Ukrainian people seven decades ago. Seventy years in the scheme of God's creation and in the history of our great nation of Ukraine is not a long time. Over most of those 70 years the population of Ukraine, however, was deliberately deceived into believing that it was an occurrence of nature's mystifying ways. Only now are our brothers and sisters in Ukraine beginning to comprehend the incredible consequences of this evil deed. Only now do they realize how the failed experiment called communism could affect their lives far beyond the conclusion of its own existence.

Our presence here in this great and majestic cathedral of St. Patrick, for the 12th year in row - thanks to the kindness and generosity of His Eminence Cardinal Egan and the staff of this edifice, which glorifies God by its physical thrust toward Heaven - serves not just to commemorate those millions and millions who perished without rhyme or reason. We will never, ever forget the horrifying manner in which they were forced to die. Our presence also says to those who survived, to those who are newly horrified, to those who rebuild their own lives and the life of Ukraine - our presence says to them that we are here to offer support, that we will not abandon them and that we will never permit such a holocaust to repeat itself!

If we permit ourselves the luxury of letting history be history, then we are doomed. If we force the memory of those millions who died out of our minds because it makes us - or perhaps someone else - uncomfortable, then we fail them. If we ignore our responsibility to assist in correcting the history books and educating present and future generations of young children in Ukraine and building a proper memorial, worthy of the sacrifice of so many millions, then we will be participating in the creation of all the necessary circumstances for it to occur again.

As we have said every year in this sacred place, we say again today: Let us never forget! Let us never forget! Let us never forget! May God Almighty give us the strength, the desire, the intent and the will to preserve the sanctity of life, which is given to each and every person of His Creation. No one has the right or should have the power to take life away or to end it for any reason.

We express to you His Eminence, Cardinal Egan, and to his entire staff at this - one of the most prominent symbols of America's powerful and enduring faith in God - our most sincere gratitude, not only for the use of the physical space, but for their kind and sincere presence with us on several previous occasions, sharing in our prayer. May our Lord's most abundant blessings be theirs throughout their entire ministry for many years to come and may He embrace them in the warmth of His unending love for them all the days of their life.

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