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The following is an appeal in July of 1933 issued by the Ukrainian
Catholic hierarchy of Halychyna [Galicia], in Lviv, in western Ukraine:
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"The Appeal of the Ukrainian Catholic Bishops of the Ecclesiastical
Province of Galicia to all men of good will, to draw the attention of
the world to the atrocities in Eastern Ukraine under the Bolshevik
yoke.
Ukraine is in agony. The people are dying from hunger. The
anthropophagous system of state capitalism based on injustice, deceit,
atheism and corruption, has brought the rich country to complete ruin.
His Holiness, Pius XI, the visible Head of the Catholic Church, has
protested emphatically against everything that in Bolshevism opposes
Christianity, God, and human nature, and warned the whole Catholic
world of the terrifying consequences of such crimes. With this protest
we concur.
We already see the consequences of the Communist regime: each day it
becomes more frightening. The sight of these crimes horrifies human
nature and makes one's blood run cold. Being unable to extend material
aid to our dying brothers, we implore the faithful to beseech from
Heaven by their prayers, fasts, mortifications and all other works,
divine assistance.
Furthermore, we protest before the whole world against the persecution
of children, the poor, the sick and the innocent. On the other hand, we
summon the persecutors before the Tribunal of the Almighty God. The
blood of famished and enslaved labourers who till the soil of Ukraine
cries to heaven for vengeance, and the plaint of the half-starved
reapers has reached God in Heaven. We implore the Christians of the
world, all those who believe in God, and especially all our fellow
countrymen, to unite with us in protest to make known our grief even
in the most remote corners of the earth.
We also ask all the radio stations to broadcast our voice to the whole
world; perhaps it may also reach the impoverished, desolate homes of
the famine-stricken and the persecuted. Thus at least the thought that
they are remembered and pitied by their brothers far away, and
supported by their prayers, may be a consolation to them amidst untold
sufferings and imminent death. And all you, the suffering, the famished
and the dying, pray to the Merciful Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Accept these sufferings in atonement for your sins and the sins of the
world, repeating with Our Lord, "Thy will be done, heavenly Father."
Death voluntarily accepted from the hands of God is an holy offering
which, united with the sacrifice of Christ, will lead you to Paradise
and bring salvation for all the people. Let our hopes be in the Lord.
Given in Lviv, on the Feast of St. Olga, July, 1933
+Andrew Sheptytskyi, Metropolitan
+Gregory Khomyshyn, Bishop of Stanyslaviv
+Josaphat Kotsylovskyi, Bishop of Peremyshyl
+Gregory Lakota, Auxiliary Bishop of Peremyshyl
+Niceta Budka, Titular Bishop of Patara
+John Buchko, Auxiliary Bishop of Lviv
+ John Latyshevskyi, Auxiliary Bishop of Stanyslaviv"
First Printed in Pravda (Truth) XII No 30, July 30, 1933. Quoted here from
Bishop Ivan Buchko, ed., "First Victims of Communism: White Book on the
Religious Persecution in Ukraine." Rome, 1953.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This information was found in an article by Fr. Jeffrey D.
Stephaniuk, Priest, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Canada; UANews
Religious Affairs Editor, "COLLECTIVE FARMS: COMMON GRAVES,
A Famine Lament," published by the Ukrainian Archives & News,
UK, 23 Nov 2003; religion@uanews.tv, http://religion.uanews.tv
LINK: http://uanews.tv/archives/famine/holodomor9.htm
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