Swiss elder: A soldier must kneel and ask forgiveness from his victims

Archimandrite Gabriel (Bunge). Photo: UOJ in Germany

The well-known Swiss ascetic, Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel (Bunge), who lives in the Exaltation of the Cross Hermitage in the Swiss Alps, shared in an interview with the German editorial office of the UOJ his pastoral experience of helping military servicemen who carry deep spiritual wounds from war.

The elder emphasized that a Christian faced with the necessity of killing must seek not only God’s forgiveness, but reconciliation with the victims themselves.

According to Fr. Gabriel, for many years he has received in his hermitage people whose souls were shattered by combat. One such visitor – a former soldier who had served in Afghanistan – came to him “like a living corpse, completely destroyed by what he had lived through.”

“He said only one thing at confession: ‘I was in Afghanistan.’ And at that moment I understood what he was carrying within himself,” the elder recalls.

Fr. Gabriel gave the soldier spiritual advice that, as he says, became a true resurrection for him: “Every day, kneeling, ask forgiveness from those whom you had to kill: ‘Forgive me, brothers.’ And then you will find peace.”

The elder noted that this path – a conscious, penitential turning toward the victims of war – has the power to heal the human heart more deeply than any therapeutic method.

“Psychologists, medications – all of that is only a bandage. But the wound must heal from within. And that is possible only in this way,” he said.

Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel stressed that a Christian has no right to hate, even if forced to take part in war: “All people are the image of God. And if in war you had to take someone’s life, then after returning you must be reconciled with him. Not only confess before God, but turn to the one you harmed.”

The elder added that he gives the same advice to women who have undergone abortion: “Our God is the God of the living. The children have not disappeared. You must ask forgiveness from them just as from those killed in war.”

Concluding his reflection, he reminded that prayer and repentance are the only path to peace of heart: “Only in this way does a person rise again. This is how the soul comes back to life.”

In his interview, the elder also speaks with great compassion about the war in Ukraine and encourages believers for their faithfulness to the canonical Church despite persecution.

Earlier, the UOJ published a reflection on why we must forgive our enemies.

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