The Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe

together with partners:

the Freya von Moltke Foundation for the New Kreisau

and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation

invite you to participate in the program entitled

„8 x Reconciliation”, 

commemorating
30th anniversary of signing 
the The Polish-German Treaty of Good Neighbourship and Friendly Cooperation

Read more: The project "8 x Reconciliation". EVENT PROGRAMME

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ!

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
lack of reconciliation and anger. Grief and resentment. Claims and fear. One side against another, brother against brother and tribe against tribe. On the one hand, feeling of the harm caused and the loss of something, which belonged to. On the other hand, at the same time fear, remorse, and the question which does not allow us to sleep: Will we ever forgive? Will our relations come back to their proper tracks? Can they still be good between us after the harm I have done?

We cannot change history. That is for sure. The way that we have done by our feet is always left behind us with everything that has met us there. Both beautiful and breathtaking views and breakdowns, tragedies, experiences. Two brothers, whose emotions and doubts I want to remind us, must have understood it well. Their history can be found at the beginning of the Bible.
Their past was difficult. There were Jacob’s fraud and Esau’s heartrending cry of anger. Hands reaching out for an undue blessing and the following live of a man tormented by remorse and fear of revenge that is coming back still. However, the brothers bring their story to one of the most beautiful and bracing parts of the Bible. To sincere and coming from a heart’s need for reconciliation and forgiveness.

Read more: Bishop Waldemar Pytel's speech on the 30th anniversary of the Reconciliation Mass – Krzyżowa...

We all have experienced this situation: we make an effort, we try to create the best possible quality, but the recipients of our actions seem not to notice it. But one mistake is immediately noticed, and then pointed out, undermining previous achievements.

This mechanism occurs in our interpersonal and professional relationships, as well as in the public and political spheres. I draw attention to it because I have the impression that Polish-German relations are perceived in a similar way. We get excited when something bad happens, but we stop paying attention to the fact that the "miracle of reconciliation" (Władysław Bartoszewski) is happening right in front of our eyes. 

Klaus Zernack, a German historian who has greatly contributed to changing the approach of German historiography to Poland and to Polish-German relations, repeated that it is difficult to find in the history of the nations of Europe such a great estrangement as was shared by Poles and Germans after the Second World War. It is difficult for us today to imagine the scale of hostility, pain, fear, contempt and hatred that divided our ancestors only a few decades ago. Neither one nor the other believed that Poles and Germans could one day be good neighbours, partners and friends.

Read more: German-Polish relations. Can we appreciate what we have achieved? A Reflection on the 30th...

The celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Reconciliation Mass began with a special Holy Mass commemorating the events of 12 November 1989. The Holy Mass, chaired by Archbishop Alfons Nossol, was concelebrated by Archbishop Ludwig Schick, Archbishop Victor Skwarc and Bishop Ignacy Dec.

The celebrations on November 12, 2019 in Krzyżowa had an international and ecumenical character. The ceremony was also attended by clergymen representing the Evangelical-Augsburg Church, including Bishop Waldemar Pytel (Diocese of Wroclaw Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland), who during a speech emphasized the importance of reconciliation and the need to seek peace at all times.

We recommend pictures taken by Wiktor Bąkiewicz and Fundacja "Krzyżowa".

Read more: The 30th anniversary of the Reconciliation Mass – Krzyżowa, 12-13 November 2019 r. (PHOTO)