Ukraine at the Breaking Point:
26 Dead, but Spirit Undefeated
BY VICTOR GAETAN
As protesters face off against armed riot police in Kiev, Church leaders in Ukraine and the U.S. express support for the beleaguered anti-government 'Euromaidan Movement.'
Despite an ultimatum yesterday from the Ukrainian government for Kiev protesters to clear Independence Square or risk being physically removed, some 20,000 anti-government demonstrators, supported by the Catholic Church, faced armed riot police in an apocalyptic scene of fire and nerve.
To defend the square, known as Maidan in Ukrainian, from encroaching police units, protesters burned tires, threw cobblestones and tossed petrol bombs, often to the sound of priests from the Orthodox and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Churches chanting on Maidan’s main soundstage, guarded by banners showing Jesus and Mary.
Prayer, including the Rosary, alternated with patriotic songs and political appeals all night. By this morning, some 26 people were dead, including 10 police, and more than 1,000 injured on both sides.
Just two days ago, the standoff over Ukraine’s future seemed to be calming down. In exchange for the release of hundreds of protesters from jail, activists abandoned Kiev City Hall, which they had occupied for more than two months.
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Catholic Church Supports Protest
U.S. bishops have added their voices to those around the world calling for change in Ukraine.
Remembering his visit last summer to Kiev, where he was struck by the young people and the hopefulness of the Church, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York wrote on his blog late last month, “Those high summer hopes have now turned as cold as this New York winter day.”
In his blog post, titled “Supporting the Euromaidan Movement in Ukraine,” Cardinal Dolan asked his readers — and the U.S. government — to stand with the “brave Ukrainians” who are defending human dignity and civil rights.
Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput was more specific in his recent statement on the crisis. He suggested the U.S. government impose a visa ban against corrupt Ukrainian officials and “business oligarchs,” while freezing U.S.-based assets. He explained, “Silence from the United States encourages oppression in Ukraine. We can’t let that happen.”
One of the most positive developments in the last month has been the consistent, close collaboration of Catholic and Orthodox groups, with Byzantine-rite and Latin-rite Catholics working together with Orthodox Christians, mainly those associated with the Kiev Patriarchate. The patriarchate is the third-largest group of Orthodox faithful in the world, with 15 million believers.
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