“Unfortunately, today artificial walls are being erected between our people who once stood shoulder to shoulder in the face of adversity. But I am convinced: no political and social upheavals can make people forget the shared feeling of history, their spiritual and cultural unity,” the patriarch said in a statement on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP), his press office said on Tuesday.
On the one hand, the man-made disaster exposed human helplessness in the face of the laws of nature and at the same time man’s ability to demonstrate “the great power of love, self-sacrifice and solidarity,” the Church leader said.
“More than half a million people from all Soviet republics were involved in the cleanup effort at the Chernobyl NPP. The joint threat united people of various ethnicities and religions in the bid to stop the devastating consequences of the tragedy,” the patriarch said.
