The Address of Polish Bishops to their German Brothers in the Pastoral Office of Christ was a milestone for the Polish-German reconciliation process. It contained memorable words: “Wir gewähren Vergebung und bitten um Vergebung“ (“We forgive and ask for forgiveness”), which created an entirely new space for the dialogue between the Poles and the Germans – two nations that were divided by the events of the Second World War.
The author of this inconspicuous document, consisting of only seventeen typed pages, was a Wrocław archbishop Bolesław Kominek. The Address was signed on November 18, 1965 by thirty-six Polish bishops, during the last session of the Second Vatican Council. It was an invitation for the German Church to participate in the commemoration of the millennium of the Christianization of Poland.
The document of the Polish Church hierarchs is an important element of the process of European unification.