A great objective” “

The public demonstrations against the result of the presidential elections that announced as the winner the pro-Russian Victor Yanukovych show no signs of abating in the streets of Kiev. The Supreme Court has been called to verify the regularity of the vote. Meanwhile outgoing President Leonid Kuchma said he was ready to organize a new ballot for the choice of his successor, but it is feared that this would lead to secessionist repercussions in the south-eastern regions of the country, traditionally linked with Russia. TRANSPARENCY OF GOVERNMENT AND RESPECT FOR THE PEOPLE. Rule of law, transparency in the action of government, freedom of expression and respect for the person: these are the basic demands made by Cardinal LUBOMYR HUSAR, head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, in a written reflection dedicated to the “Future of the Ukrainian State”. Husar contests the regularity of the presidential elections. “We acknowledge with regret – he writes – that in the second round of the presidential elections, the Ukrainian people were deprived of the right to free and fair elections”. The cardinal speaks of “fraud, injustice, abuse of power and the swindling of people” and recalls the years in which Ukraine was under the Soviet regime. “In the years of independence – writes Husar – the people were able for the first time to experience freedom and fundamental human rights. Today, no one can be permitted to deprive them of all this”. In recent days, the people have rediscovered “a profound unity and a great sense of solidarity”, writes the cardinal. “There are those who have donated clothes to those who felt cold and food to the hungry: no one was regarded as a stranger”. “This is how a nation affirms itself, a nation that was forcibly divided but not destroyed for centuries, and that today finds itself united around a great objective”. The Latin Catholic Church too has expressed its solidarity with the people in this crisis and in a communiqué Msgr. MARKIAN TROFIMJACK has asked the community to unite itself in prayer for “all those who have erred and those who desire and seek justice”. THE PRAYER OF ALL RELIGIOUS LEADERS, that Ukraine may once again find peace, is the common denominator of an extremely complex religious (and Christian) panorama, characterized by a series of schisms within the Ukrainian Orthodox churches: between those who recognise as their leader the Patriarch of Moscow (Alexis II), those who claim to belong to the Patriarchate of Kiev (Metropolitan Philaret) and those who define themselves as autocephalous Church (Archbishop Ihor Isichenko). The Patriarch of Moscow, ALEXIS II, has written a telegram to the outgoing President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma. “In these dramatic days – says the message – I would like to express my support for the efforts aimed at restoring peace and consensus in the political life of Ukraine. I pray for the Ukrainian people, dear to my heart, that the difficulties they are experiencing today, may be solved in a peaceful and worthy manner, and on a solid legal foundation, in accordance with the will of the people and without destructive foreign influences”. “I know – adds Alexis II – that it is the desire of the majority of Ukrainian citizens to strengthen the country, preserve its independence and sovereignty and maintain fraternal relations with Russia”. Hence the Patriarch’s appeal to the country’s political leaders to be aware of the “responsibility” they have for the “destiny of millions of people”. Patriarch PHILARET, leader of the Ukrainian autocephalous Orthodox Church (linked to the Patriarchate of Kiev), has exhorted his faithful to pray for peace in the country and asked for the holding of fresh elections. Philaret has in fact embraced the positions of the demonstrators in Kiev. “We are witnesses – he said in an interview with Radio Era – of the rebirth of the Ukrainian nation. That does not mean that the nation did not exist before. But today we can speak of a new rebirth”. At the request of its own faithful, the eparchal Council of the Ukrainian autocephalous Orthodox Church – headed by Bishop IHOR ISICHENKO – gathered in extraordinary session, at the end of which it published a Resolution in which the Church recognises Viktor Yushchenko as the legitimate President (thus denouncing the “gross violations” with which the elections were held), exhorts the community to pray for Ukraine and give peaceful support to the demonstrations in the country, and warns against “the threat of a military aggression by Russia”. HRYHORII KOMENDANT, chairman of the Ukrainian Union of Baptist Evangelicals, has also invited the faithful to pray for the country in a communiqué. “The power of prayer – says the message – may change for the better not only the life of people but also the destiny of a country”. Lastly, the initiative of the main SYNAGOGUE IN KIEV deserves mention: it has distributed hot food and drinks to the demonstrators who have taken to the streets of Kiev in sub-zero temperatures, thanks to a collection of money promoted by the Jewish community (some 25,000 euros).