April 13, 2010

GENEVA – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) joins the Polish people and churches in mourning the victims of the 10 April plane crash in Smolensk, Russia, in which President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, numerous government and military officials, and several church representatives – including a Lutheran pastor – died.

Rev. Adam Pilch, the Acting Military Bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland, was among the nearly 100 passengers who died in the presidential plane that crash landed at the Smolensk airport, western Russia. Pilch, the pastor of the Ascension Parish in Warsaw, was part of an ecumenical delegation traveling in the same aircraft.

In a letter today to Bishop Jerzy Samiec and members of the Polish LWF member church, Noko described Pilch as "a respected and faithful servant of your church." The general secretary expressed the LWF's prayers for the pastor's family, his congregation, and the families of all the deceased. "We think also of the other churches in Poland that lost leaders and companions in Christ's service in this tragedy, and we ask you to convey our sincerest condolences to your ecumenical partners," stated Noko's letter to Samiec.

Noko pointed out that in the tragic accident, Poland "lost many of its most outstanding leaders – men and women who had committed their lives to enhancing the well-being of your nation, its political governance, its economy, and its social sustainability, as well as contributing to its shared identity and to strengthening spiritual and ethical values in Polish society."

The presidential delegation was due to attend a commemoration for Polish victims of the 1940 massacre by the then Soviet secret police at Katyn, near Smolensk. Noko pointed out that the site of the presidential plane crash "invokes in your people and in all of us in Europe and around the world painful memories of the past." He noted that the yearning for the healing of memories and reconciliation "has been palpable over the past days, with so many Polish people gathering in public to express their mourning, and condolences reaching your country from all corners of the world." It is hope-giving "to see the leaders of Poland and Russia come together in grief and solidarity, and cooperating in the investigation of the accident," said the LWF general secretary.

His letter concludes by offering prayers for God's guidance during this difficult time for the church and the people of Poland. "May you be comforted by the Easter message of resurrection in which we are all promised to share," Noko added.

Lutheran World Information