This week began with commemorations of 35 years of Ukrainian independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union, with emotions of gratitude, resolve and hope, mixed with frustration, fatigue and pain.
I was invited to travel to Kyiv for the National Prayer Breakfast last Sunday, together with visitors from 50 nations. Some 1200 politicians, diplomats, military officers and chaplains, veterans, academics, faith leaders and representatives of civil society gathered in solidarity with a nation battling for freedom, sovereignty and justice.
Held under the patronage of the president, the Prayer Breakfast was a reminder that spiritual leadership remains essential in times of crisis. Ukrainians are conscious of defending the fundamental human right of freedom of religion so often taken for granted elsewhere in Europe.
While Putin projects an image of defending traditional Christianity, his forces have damaged or destroyed 800 places of worship in occupied territories, and imprisoned, tortured and killed over 200 pastors, priest and clerics not aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church.
In contrast, Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and other faith communities coexist and cooperate peacefully elsewhere in free Ukraine, conducting worship services, educational activities and humanitarian initiatives, often side by side. They support soldiers and their families, assist displaced persons, evacuate civilians from frontline areas, deliver humanitarian aid, provide shelter and psychological and spiritual support.
Diversity
Religious diversity in Ukraine is a source of of strength, not division. Diversity was visible on the platform in the variety of clerical dress represented. Mutual respect, freedom of conscience and a shared commitment to serving others have become pillars of the nation’s spiritual resilience. Ukrainians are aware that as they defend their sovereignty, they are also defending every person’s right to believe, to pray, and to live according to their conscience, free from coercion, persecution or state control – guaranteed by the Ukrainian Constitution.
Participants at the breakfast heard President Volodymyr Zelensky call for prayer ‘for three important things: for those in captivity — that they may endure; for those in battle — that they may return; and for peace for Ukraine — a just and lasting peace.’
At the Faith and Freedom Forum held that afternoon in a central Baptist Church sanctuary, former US Vice President Mike Pence declared that Ukraine was on the right side of history and deserved the full support of all freedom-loving nations. It was in the vital national interests of the US to continue the full support of Ukraine, he said.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of the president’s office, affirmed the importance of unity saying ‘Our faith in one another is also a weapon. We are one family, we are together.’
Former American Ambassador Clayton urged people of faith to start a revolution against corruption. Seventy years of corruption was not easy to change, he conceded before adding, ‘but you must resolve in your hearts to say: We will not give bribes, take bribes or condone those who do.’
Dependence
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council spoke of the spiritual dimension of the battle for the soul of Ukraine and the hearts of its people. While as a former US Marine he respected the need for weapons of warfare, Ukraine’s political independence needed to be accompanied by spiritual renewal, he urged. The nation needed not commemoration of independence but a ‘declaration of dependence upon Almighty God.’
On Monday morning, many European leaders joined President Zelensky in the shadow of St Sophia Cathedral for the national commemoration of Independence Day. Present were European Council President António Costa, the presidents of Estonia, Lithuania, Finland and Moldova, prime ministers from the UK, Norway, Latvia and Denmark and the foreign minister of Germany.
Soldiers, volunteers and families of fallen defenders were honoured, military flags and state awards were presented, and Ukraine’s increasingly sophisticated drones and weapons were showcased. Ukrainians had restored and preserved their independence and would certainly defend it, declared Zelensky, while the visiting European leaders used the occasion to reaffirm that Ukraine’s independence was inseparable from Europe’s security and future.
Prior to boarding the train back to Poland that evening, I joined Father Oleksa Petriv of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the offices of the UGCC close to Maidan where several decisive meetings between politicians and religious leaders had taken place during the tense days of the Orange Revolution (2004-5) and the Revolution of Dignity (2014-5). There we joined Rev Frank-Dieter Fischbach, general secretary of the Conference of European Churches, and others in the Sunflower Fellowship interconfessional prayer zoom held on the 24th of each month, linking a spectrum of church traditions in prayer for Ukraine.
Arriving back in Poland, I found myself disembarking from the train behind Finnish President Alexander Stubb. I grasped the opportunity to shake his hand and thank him for his voice of sanity on the world scene.
I returned home encouraged that truth, justice and freedom will prevail in Ukraine.
Till next week,
