EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS … (Ph 2:10-11)
David Nazar, sj Superior, Jesuits of Ukraine
Martin Luther King’s speeches gave release to the yearnings of a people for freedom from a tortuous history of oppression in the United States. The martyrdom of the poor and their church leaders in Latin America helped to bring down structures that kept the rich, rich and the poor, poor.
Germany’s choice to reconcile with its history and thus with its neighbours inaugurated such a process of reconciliation that it is now honoured among countries in a way unimaginable during the 1950s. Nelson Mandela’s Truth and Reconciliation process brought at least a temporary end to structured racial violence and laid the possibility for a harmonious South Africa. These moments were historical, social, and deeply spiritual, not only for those involved but for the larger world. The maidan in Ukraine was one of these moments when the yearnings of the soul of a nation were rendered as clear as crystal. The forces of good and evil came out from the shadows, the choice was life and death, the options were hope of dignity and despair of violence.
The spiritual quality of the maidan period was lost on no one. Not only was the church actively present, but intellectuals were quoting scripture to explain the dramatic events as they unfolded. Major news programs interviewed church leaders about sin, punishment and forgiveness. Jesuits on the maidan heard confessions and conversion stories told out of a new-found sense that God was present in the struggle.
For us Jesuits, the long process of the maidan, which began with Advent and continue through Easter, it was a re-living of the paschal mystery in real time. We continued to preach, teach, give retreats, work with youth and refugees. The retreats themselves became extraordinary moments of reflection about the power of the gospel to conquer evil which was being played out in kidnappings, torture, and the wanton murder of the innocent. Despite the violence, people would not give up the overwhelming commitment to a peaceful process for the establishment of transparent justice. It was a calling. I remember the prophetic reflections of a noted historian at the feast of the slaughter of the innocent (Mt 2:16). One could see that the battle lines were setting up such that an end would not come without the death of the innocent. The maidan’s refusal to take up arms in self-defence was redolent of Jesus’ silence before Pilate and his acceptance of an unjust sentence. Youth bidding farewell to their parents as they set out resolutely for Kyiv in the full knowledge that they would not return gave witness to a calling that many accepted with extraordinary peace and often manifest joy. Their life, even in death, spoke of dignity. There was great confidence that some had to take the sins of the nation on themselves in order for the evil to be exposed and exorcised. The very crucifixion of Christ became the inspiration to bring hope and understanding to an otherwise senseless brutality.
A cruel irony was seen as the president’s forces chose holy days to attack, days they thought would catch demonstrators at ease. After his flight, the president vowed to return victorious and vindicated on Easter Sunday, which he failed to do. For believing people, the whole period was like an extended meditation on evil and the only Christian response. There were moving testimonies of young men finding peace in God shortly before being shot by hidden snipers. As in the scriptures, the main weapon of evil was fear. As also in the scriptures, the response was to fear not. There remained a certain calm confidence that good would conquer in the end. And so it was.
A second battle is being waged that comes not entirely unexpectedly. It may come as a surprise to some, but the Soviet Union has not died in the minds of many with power. Ukrainians feel that not until this dream dies will there be peace. Once again, it is a battle of darkness and light; forces of power and control against human dignity; forces of lies and manipulation against a transparent yearning for truth and reconciliation. Even the end of this second battle is in sight.
For the Jesuits, as for many others, this has been a time of witnessing and of giving witness to the power of the paschal mystery to recreate a world that sin can only destroy.
