Tag: Russia-Ukraine War

Russian forces, like the Soviet Union's KGB intelligence agency, persecute the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church due to its Ukrainian identity, said Bishop Stepan Meniok, a Redemptorist and bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's Donetsk Exarchate.

Ukraine's Parliament has approved an historic bill to ban the Orthodox Church with ties to the Russian Patriarchate.

"Our church was liquidated in the occupied territories," said Ukrainian Greek Catholic Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk in a 25 June interview with media outlet Ukrinform.

Two Ukrainian priests were released from Russian captivity on 27 June as part of a ten-prisoner exchange. They were kidnapped in November 2022 by Putin's troops and have since been imprisoned in Russia.

A recent document from the Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Kirill attempts to spiritualise and sanctify the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Holy See would do well to rally Christian leaders to condemn the notion that Russia is waging a “holy war” and has a special mission from God in the 21st century, writes George Weigel.

Myroslav Marynovych, a human rights advocate from Ukraine and a former Soviet political prisoner, said the conflict in Ukraine demonstrates "the insufficiency" of current discussions about "just war and just peace and just defense."

Pope Francis called for Ukraine to have the "courage of the white flag," a term usually associated with surrender, drawing the ire of the embattled country's leaders