Excerpts from the press release per PAP/kab: , "Remembering the victims, we will fight for cooperation and reconciliation," Cyril I said. <<We do not want to cover up or cross out anything from our history." - Archbishop Jozef Michalik stressed.

This is how the signatories of the message of the two Churches commented on the signing of the historic document. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill I and Chairman of the Polish Bishops' Conference Archbishop Jozef Michalik sign a message calling for reconciliation between the two peoples of Poland and Russia, 17 bcm. at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

, "We appeal to our faithful to ask for forgiveness of wrongs, injustices and any evil done to each other," proclaims the first-ever document with a message from the Catholic Churches in Poland and the Orthodox Church in Russia.

"Every Pole in every Russian and every Russian in every Pole should see a friend and brother," reads the document addressed to both nations, signed by the chairman of the Polish Bishops' Conference Archbishop Michalik and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill I.

This is not a political declaration, but a pastoral document," Cyril I said after signing the message. , "Our faith says that we should overcome negative historical stereotypes; we should respect each other, trust each other, so that we open the prospect of development within the framework of solidarity and Christian love," - he said.

He added that the signed message testifies that , "sin is the main source of all divisions, including between nations. He noted that a pragmatic approach is not enough to build a brotherly dialogue between Poles and Russians. , "The shortcomings of the moral aspects in international relations lead to the fact that individuals do not see the point of communicating with each other, apart from mutual interests," he said. The patriarch stressed that in our relations with the environment we often look only for blame, which only deepens distrust.

, "Man does not always fully trust that one can live without repaying evil for evil; that he should forgive," Cyril declared. , "Christians forgive each other's wrongs; not forgetting those who died," he said. He stated that Christian tradition says we should cherish the memory of the victims. , "Remembering this sacrifice, we will now fight for cooperation and reconciliation," he said.

In his opinion, the study of the past should be objective, and the results should give knowledge to the youth, which means moving away from moral principles. He added that the time is coming to push back the memory of the difficult past for the sake of the challenges of the future.

The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia mentioned that abortion, euthanasia and same-sex unions are being promoted, and religion is being removed from the social space. , "Today Christians are obliged to fight for their rights," he stressed.

, "If today we allow the destruction of the foundation of Europe, which is in danger, then in the future we will witness manifestations of hatred, compared to which even the years of the 20th century may seem positive," he added.

"The Catholic Churches in Poland and the Orthodox Church in Russia are not signing a joint document for publicity or public success; it is about a sense of responsibility for the future of the nations," Archbishop Michalik stressed in his speech. In his view, Friday's meeting has a historical dimension.

As Archbishop Michalik said, the joint document was born out of the spirit of the Gospel and a sense of responsibility for its proclamation, as well as responsibility for discerning the situation of the modern world.

, "We are firmly convinced that God has the right to be present in public life, has the right to exist wherever man exists," he noted. , "We therefore do not sign this document for publicity or public success or external acclaim, not even for history. For we are brought by the great and painful experience of past and near history of the many sufferings and injustices inflicted by specific people and by terrible totalitarian systems, from which we must tirelessly dissociate ourselves, and which have dishonored the name of man," - Archbishop Michalik said. He added that Poles and Russians sometimes evaluate the same events and the same people in different ways.

"The legacy of such a great, turbulent and difficult history no man can bear. To face the truth about the history of our neighboring Slavic nations no man can. Too much has occurred in history, in the hearts of people and probably in ourselves, for us to trust ourselves, our own deliberations and convictions, or even the convictions of prominent people," the chairman of the KEP stressed. , "We don't want to cover up or cross out anything from our past and near history of our peoples and our relations." - Archbishop Michalik noted.

, "We do not come today to settle accounts, accuse or justify anyone," he added. As he said, it is about bearing witness to the longing for a better, more beautiful future, which lies in , "every noble heart of a Pole and a Russian.

According to Archbishop Michalik, creating the conditions for new relations requires mutual purification and conversion, and recognition that we have motives for mutual forgiveness. Archbishop Michalik at the Royal Castle also recalled the words of Pope John Paul II that , "reconciliation cannot be less profound than the split itself. The Metropolitan of Przemyśl also noted that , "history teaches, but the future is more important than the past, because we are responsible for what happens today and today we build the foundations of tomorrow.

The Episcopal communiqué assessed that the basic message of the document is the concern that , "the future can be better, more beautiful, more secure and more mutually honest," and this is not possible without basing personal life and social life on values. , "For a world without God loses the chance of light in the darkness and loses the key to truly creative release of its own forces," Archbishop Michalik said.

The ceremony at the Royal Castle was attended by the highest-ranking hierarchs of both churches and representatives of Poland's highest authorities, including Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Marek Kuchcinski.