A letter declares Universities as builders of Polish–German reconciliation

The letter “Universities as Builders of Reconciliation” marks the 60th anniversary, on 5 December, of the response of the German bishops to the “Message of the Polish Bishops to Their German Brothers in the Episcopal Office of Christ”. This was one of the major steps of Polish–German reconciliation after the Second World War.

Three rectors

The authors include Fr. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski, Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin, Fr. Prof. Robert Tyrała, Rector of the John Paul II Pontifical University in Kraków, and Fr. Prof. Sławomir Stasiak, Rector of the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław. They note that “what the Polish bishops began to build with their message, and which the German bishops endeavoured to rise to (…) is today alarmingly crumbling”.

Rectors who signed the letter “Universities as Builders of Reconciliation”

The famous Mass

The rectors recall in the letter the famous 1989 Mass in Krzyżowa, attended by Poland’s Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who exchanged a symbolic gesture of reconciliation. The authors of the letter argue that today we do not need further lofty reconciliatory gestures comparable to those of 1965 and 1989, but rather a more profound substantiation of these gestures, which is presently lacking: “On both sides of the border, there is a want of people able to undertake the construction of a space for dialogue and understanding, who would give impetus to joint projects and who would be the first to begin building bridges in place of the re-emerging walls”.

Speaking with one voice

The authors of the letter propose that the academic community should begin to set the tone of contemporary Polish–German relations. “Let us, the representatives of Polish and German universities, set an example of how to build reconciliation befitting our times”, emphasise the rectors. They caution that the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine should be a warning light flashing all the more intensely when we try to focus on what divides the Polish and German nations.

Unity of scholarly communities

“Let us remember what happens when we stand on two opposing sides”, stress the authors of the letter, pledging a deeper cooperation with the scholarly community across the Oder. “We undertake to seek in our relations and contacts that which may become a broader social bond. Let academic debate involving young people and joint cross-border scholarly projects be bridges across our common frontier river”, conclude the rectors of the Catholic University of Lublin, the John Paul II Pontifical University in Kraków, and the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław.

Ed. by KUL University