BY Bridget Orr | March 3 | 
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Pope intervenes in worsening crisis in the Ukraine
Holy Father urges global leaders to help as fomer Soviet state is violently torn apart by east and west loyalities.
Pope Francis has urged global leaders to promote dialogue in order to resolve the worsening Ukraine crisis as Russia strengthens control in neighbouring Crimea.
During his traditional Sunday Angelus yesterday, the Pope called on international leaders to ‘support every initiative for dialogue and harmony’ before turning into Ukrainians themselves to overcome misunderstandings and build a future together.
Despite winning independence from Russia in 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine remained divided by political loyalties with the west of the country, including capital Kiev seeking European Union membership, and the east of the country including Donetsk and the Crimea region seeking to continue Russian ties.
This divide was magnified after pro-Russian President Victor Yanukovych was ousted and exiled from the country last month amidst violent pro-European Union protests in Kiev.
The new administration has banned Russian as an official language, and in response to this backlash, the Russian army has mobilised around airports and cities in the Crimea.
Russia is strengthening its control of the Crimea despite condemnation from members of the G7 group and likely boycotts of the Sochi Paralympics by UK Government ministers in the next few days,
Pope Francis’s call for dialogue yesterday echoed a recent ecumenical open letter from Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant leaders across Russia and former members of the Soviet Union including Estonia and Belarus.
“All our communities are praying for those who were killed or injured during the political and social confrontation,” the leaders write, adding that they ‘[hoped] for the establishment of lasting peace and mutual understanding among all citizens of the fraternal Ukraine, regardless of their nationality or religion.’
The violence in the past few months has involved vandalism and destruction of churches and places of worship.
The leaders condemned this in the letter and instead called on Ukrainians to ‘exert every effort to avoid provocations and to preserve in their hearts true love for the neighbours, for their human dignity and religious beliefs.’
Pic: Orthodox clergyman leads prayer service at site where anti-Yanukovich protesters have been killed in recent clashes in Ukraine
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