The division in Ukraine goes back 350 years. In 1654, when Ukrainians were fighting Polish rule, a Cossack leader named Bohdan Khmelnitsky swore allegiance to the Russian czar. Since then, Ukrainians have been dominated by Russia.
Orthodox priests came To pray on the frontline , and voluntarily served as human sheilds between protests and soldiers
Ukraine’s east is mostly Russian-speaking, Orthodox in religion, and strongly pro-Russian. Most people in Ukraine’s west speak Ukrainian and adhere to a church that acknowledges the authority of the Roman Catholic Pope and some are distrustful of Russia.
Metropolitan Hilarion, Pope Francis discuss Greek-Catholics’ actions in Ukraine. “
Christianity has deep roots in Ukraine. Churches and priests are omnipresent in the country, and especially so in the protests that have racked Kiev and other cities since late November.
Ukraine’s Orthodox and Catholic priests have been frequently seen on or near the front lines of the clashes, ministering to protesters and riot police alike, though at times some have appeared to more closely align themselves near the protesters.
Perhaps this is because protesters, camped out for three months in Kiev’s Independence Square, and having endured the overwhelming firepower of security forces, are in more immediate physical need or maybe it’s just where those priests’ individual sympathies lie. But blessed are the peacemakers.
It is the seventh verse of the Sermon on the Mount, and also seventh of what are known as the Beatitudes. In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9
Whatever the case, photos tracking the priests as they move between both sides of the physical conflict, as well as minister to the dead and wounded, provide strikingly powerful glimpses into life on the ground in crisis-racked Ukraine.
An Orthodox priest walks under gun fire during clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images)
A priest rushes to give the last sacraments to an anti-government protesters during clashes with riot police in central Kiev. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)
A priest tends to wounded in the lobby of the Hotel Ukraine. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
A priest stands in the lobby of the hotel Ukraine. (David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)
In total 18.4% of Ukrainians have claimed to have taken part in the Orange Revolution (across Ukraine).