The Oct. 11 sentencing of former prime minister and Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to seven years in prison may or may not stand. Miss Tymoshenko has appealed the sentence and several western governments, including the Obama administration, have lodged stiff protests over Tymoshenko’s prosecution with the government of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich. But irrespective of Miss Tymoshenko’s legal fate, a marker has been laid down. That the Ukrainian government would conduct, publicly, a trial on trumped up and politically motivated charges, and that the court would return a guilty verdict with a heavy penalty (including a $190 million fine on top of the prison sentence), makes quite clear that the current authorities have little regard for justice or democratic norms of governance.
And that is a problem far beyond Kyiv.
A brief review of some recent history helps explain why.
An independent Ukraine emerged from under the rubble of communism with the crack-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Throughout the previous seven decades, the repository of Ukrainian national self-awareness and aspiration was the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church [UGCC], Byzantine in liturgy and polity but in full communion with Rome since the 1596 Union of Brest. In keeping alive the idea of a free and independent Ukraine, the UGCC played a role similar to that of the Catholic Church in Soviet-occupied Poland. And the Ukrainians were persecuted even more severely, for in 1946 the Russian Orthodox Church and the Soviet secret police “dissolved” the UGCC and forcibly incorporated it into the Russian Orthodox Church. The UGCC gave its full measure of martyrs to Christ during decades of persecution, and emerged from underground in 1991 to launch, among many other initiatives, the only Catholic university in the former Soviet space: a beacon of light and decency in what is still a deeply wounded land. UGCC faculty and students played leading roles in the pro-democracy “Orange Revolution” that kept Viktor Yanukovich from power in 2004-05: a revolution whose positive effects Yanukovich now seems determined to reverse.
The UGCC is thus fated by history to play the role of the canary in the coal mine. A thriving Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine would be a sign that religious freedom is alive and well in the former Soviet space. A UGCC being choked by state pressure would be a disturbing sign that the political air in Ukraine is becoming too toxic to support democratic life.
On the strategic side of the historical ledger, a brief look at the map will suggest what is at stake here. Ukraine is the land bridge between Russia and central Europe. Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s insistence that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a geopolitical catastrophe, and Putin’s recent announcement that he would return to the Russian presidency after a four-year pause as prime minister, suggests that the next Putin administration will do whatever it can to reconstitute the old Soviet Union, de facto if not de iure.
Bringing Ukraine ever more closely into the Russian embrace is the key to that strategy. The dissolution of Ukrainian independence could be, at first, economic—a de facto economic alliance with Russia to go along with Viktor Yanukovich’s reinstatement of Soviet-style politics, as exemplified by the Tymoshenko verdict. But it is not difficult to imagine a Muscovite strategy aimed at breaking up independent Ukraine, leaving a small Ukrainian mini-state around L’viv in western Ukraine while absorbing the rest of the country back into Greater Russia.
Were the Russian Orthodox Church to acquiesce in such maneuvers, it would deal a severe blow to the ecumenical future by demonstrating that dialogue with it is virtually impossible, given that the ROC had become a department of Putin’s autocratic state rather than an independent ecclesial body.
So there is a great deal riding on the future of Ukraine: religious freedom in the former Soviet space; Putin’s success or failure in building a Greater Russia that will threaten Europe, strategically and by its control of oil and gas supplies; Christian ecumenism between East and West.
George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
Fall Web Campaign: Please donate to support the online mission of First Things.
Comments:
Helps to clarify few things a bit more too , esp. for those who are confused about the true identity of the Babylon reference in the Book of Revelation ; helps also to be grateful for the providential reasons for The ( Catholic )Church's timely loosing of its temporal power - to be an example for those who try to grab onto same , for such unjust use of its power , to ease their fears , from seeing how The Church can thrive , without such temporal power !
This is also indirectly a call for all the believers too , since the Bl.Mother had asked for prayers on behalf of Russia from the whole Church , in the Fatima visit
( true , such prayers would help all others too ).
Many places have the time honored practice of a 10 day Rosary devotion , in churches , that would have started on Oct 22nd , which now , providentially, happens to also be the ( future) Feast for Pope John Paul 11 and ends on halloween , when some persons might be calling on other powers !
How difft. the history of the world might have been - without the rebellious declaration of the Patriarch of Constantinople , in year 588 , as 'Universal Patriarch ' setting his Church into division - pretty soon followed by Islamic devastations ; the attacks against these lands in the 12th and 13th centuries too -would they have been avoidable , with a bit of fidelity to God's Word - 'be one ..'
The Dogmas during the years can all be also seen as gifted occasions , to make up for the wayward pride , in a most merciful , face saving manner !
Can see how Pope John Paul 11 would have been consumed with the plight of these people and nations , so close and intermingled with his own !
Interestingly too , there is the Image of the Merciful Jesus , with its own tortured history ( almost like The Lord wanting to share in the suffering of His people , even through such ! ) with its connection to Vilnius and thus history of Ukraine !
Let us hope and pray that Ukraine too would be restored , in fidelity to The Church , thus to be a blessing to Russia and Europe !
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion and Resurrection , have mercy on us and the whole world !
Again, this has nothing whatsoever to do with justifying persecution. But that seems to be one of the lynchpins of this argument, and I do not believe that the point is above serious dispute.
One needed and very benefecial from of such 'penance ' in our times could be , what fosters true, sacred unity between married couples , by avoding all that hamper same .
http://www.staycatholic.com/the_nfp_challenge.htm - articles such as this help to recognise how such measures help to keep marriages healthy and such healthy unity - would it not help in much broader contexts too !
The Orthodox Church can help their people , by adopting more firmly the teachings of the Catholic Church in this area and to help with the population implosion problems as well .
One problem esp. among women who want to practice N. F.P . could be the slacking off of desire in the post ovulation days ; reports of natuaral products , such as use of noni juice are things that can be studied ( esp. since it is reported to have benefits in other areas too ) and even the difficulties of bringing up children , to be offered up , with the added intent of drawing in more who are separated from the visible Kingdom of The Church , that one Day , at the marriage supper of The Lamb , all His children would be rejoicing for the graces and blessings in and through His Church, The Bride !
There could be some resentment on the part of women that
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-warns-on-tymoshenko-verdict/445253.html
A quote: “We can’t fail to note the obvious anti-Russian subtext in this whole story,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “As a matter of fact, Tymoshenko went on trial for legally binding agreements … that are in force and that nobody voided.”
(The Moscow Times is an independent, English-language newspaper in Moscow.)
http://www.euronews.net/2011/10/18/pressure-mounts-on-yanukovych-over-tymoshenko
A quote: Russia’s President Dimitry Medvedev was also expected to pressure Yanukovych in a meeting in Donetsk today.
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/10/13/bear-trap/
I think it may address some of the things you're talking about.
As someone who spends a fair amount of time in Western Ukraine, I call a massive foul on this statement. A Ukrainian Greek Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox church who do not see the Church Universal as competitive would be a good start. Protestant missionaries who go to work with the poor and most importantly - encourage Ukrainians to read the Holy Bible for themselves - regularly bump up against Orthodox/Catholic parishoners who have been instructed that biblical evangelicalism is a satanic cult or somesuch nonsense. I have personally talked to many Ukrainians who have virtually no familiarity with scripture or of fundamental, 101 concepts like sovereign grace, "Christ alone," or freedom in Christ.. and while I understand many of the priests and clergy in the Orthodox church to be my brothers in Christ, this distressing situation must be laid squarely at their feet.
While I deeply respect the sacrifice that BOTH Catholic and Orthodox believers made during the period of Soviet rule, their current-day membership roles or financial coffers are not a metric for religious freedom.
Okay, with that out of the way, I am careful about taking a strong position on the Tymoshenko issue. I believe that she was just as corrupt as virtually everyone in the Rada, and in reality what we're angry about is that she got singled out for political reasons. Ukrainian politics on both sides of the aisle are so thoroughly corrupt it's as if the entire parliament has a sort of ethical stage 4 cancer.
Russia suffered 2 major invasions that went through Ukraine: Swedish invasion of 1708-1709, and German invasion of 1941-1944. In both cases the Ukrainian population was deeply split between warring parties. This roughly was in line with religious differences. In the end, majority supported Russian case. This Ukrainian support of Russian case against the Swedes was a desisive contribution to victory of Peter the I, that made Russia an empire, involved in international affairs. Same pattern of behavior was observed during WWII. There is every reason to expect that our brothers Ukrainians will support Russian case again!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Foreign Affairs -- April 30, 2007: "Containing Russia"
By Yuliya Tymoshenko
"Western leaders should speak out against any moves away from [Russian] democracy, Putin's policy in Chechnya, and his use of energy to bully Russia's neighbors. (Many western European countries have been far too circumspect in their criticism and too anxious to make separate deals that will supposedly guarantee their national supplies of energy.) As the Russian presidential election in March 2008 approaches, the West must insist, beginning now, that amending the constitution to allow Putin to run again is unacceptable and could result in Russia's expulsion from the G-8 (the group of advanced industrialized nations). Western leaders should press for free and fair elections, even if the Kremlin's handpicked candidate is almost sure to win."