When a cleric of denomination that served Nazis marches in a victory parade

A UGCC service in the presence of Nazis. Photo: Istorychna Pravda

On May 5, a parade was held in London to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory Day. Among its participants was a group of Ukrainian military personnel accompanied by UGCC chaplain Andriy Khomyshyn.

The official website of the Greek Catholics proudly reported this. Khomyshyn himself told the British media that he was representing "our Ukrainian nation" at the parade.

It all looks quite beautiful. But there's a bit of inconsistency.

Eighty years ago, the UGCC did not represent the Ukrainian nation – it represented only a tiny western fragment of it, some of whose inhabitants fought on the side of Germany. Greek Catholic clerics ministered to soldiers of the SS "Galicia" Division, the "Nachtigall" Battalion, the "Roland" Battalion, and other Nazi formations.

This is not an attempt to tarnish the UGCC; it is an indisputable historical fact. In his 1942 letter to Hitler, the head of the Greek Catholics, Sheptytsky, wrote: “We assure you, Your Excellency, that the leading circles in Ukraine strive for the closest cooperation with Germany, so that with the combined forces of the German and Ukrainian peoples... we may implement a new order in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe.”

Of course, Khomyshyn himself may hold different political views. But he is a cleric of the UGCC. And placing a representative of an institution that served the losing side in a Victory Day parade is, at the very least, illogical. At least, that’s how it seems to us.

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