Paul Goble
Staunton, Oct. 26 – During a visit to Rome where he met both the Pope and Stanislav Shevchuk,the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Bartholemew of Constantinpole assured the Uniate leader that he prays regularly for a Ukrainian victory against Russian aggression.
Not surprisingly, Russian outlets are outraged not so much because the Ecumenical patriarch is praying for the side he favors much as the Moscow patriarch is doing the same for his but rather because Bartholemew has ranked the defense of Catholics Greek and otherwise above the defense of Orthodox (rusk.ru/newsdata.php?idar=122417).
Such arguments show just how deeply divided eastern and western Christianity remain at least in the Russian understanding and thus how much deeper the divide between Moscow and the West really is, one that reflects not just the last few centuries but a millenium that will take a long time to overcome whatever the politics of the moment in the future may be.
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