Latest news
We ask for the President’s fortitude at the meeting in Normandy format”, - a joint prayer held in Kyiv
| 9 December 2019, 12:18 | National religious question |
UOC-MP secretly ordains a separatist bishop from occupied Crimea | 9 December 2019, 10:15 | Religion and policy |
Pope at Angelus: Peace is needed in Ukraine | 9 December 2019, 09:53 | Vatican |
Institute of Eastern Christian Studies named after Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky received the highest award of the UGCC | 8 December 2019, 20:48 | UGCC |
UOC-MP has three new Hierarchs | 6 December 2019, 15:22 | UOC (MP) |
Expert thought
13 September 2019, 14:53 | Open theme |
Ukrainian autocephaly. After one year
All this past year the CEMES foundation worked on a scholarly project, which examined the Ukrainian crisis from a theological, historical and canonical perspective, always in relation to the triptych: Primacy-Conciliarity-Autocephaly.
10 September 2019, 11:16 | Viktor Yelenskyi's column |
Interference impossible to ignore, or what should the state do with religious policy?
All states of the world have in place a policy regarding religion and associations that citizens set up based on this religion's ground. The atheistic government of China and theocratic government of Iran, the mighty United States and tiny Andorra – just every one of them.
Religious Studies
22 November 2018, 14:51 | Religious studies |
In the context of recent events in the Orthodox world, disputes over the boundaries of church institutions often arise between the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Kyiv and Moscow. Ukraine accuses Russia of misappropriating the territory of the Kyiv Metropolis.
25 September 2018, 14:21 | Religious studies |
A Different Approach to the Ecclesiastical Discussion about Ukraine
The first question that arises concerning Ukraine is this: with what right and based on which holy canons, does Russia today claim the ecclesiastical and administrative dependency of the Metropolis of Kyiv?
N.S. military officer connects with Ukrainian heritage, locals on Forces mission
Peggy MacDonald
A Canadian Forces officer from Sydney River, N.S., says a six-month Joint Task Force mission to Ukraine — the birthplace of his grandfather — was a highlight of his career.
Lt.-Col. Kristopher Reeves returned to Canada after commanding a unit of 270 Canadian military personnel in the eastern European country in fulfilment of a Canadian commitment.
"People have maybe heard that Crimea, part of Ukraine, was annexed [by Russia] during a very tumultuous time in the country, but also, they're still fighting a major war of aggression in their east," Reeves told the CBC's Information Morning Cape Breton.
"They have two of their provinces where they're losing five, six soldiers a week to Russian-backed separatists."
Reeves's unit was tasked with providing training to help reduce the loss of life and helping Ukraine bolster its military complement.
'What's your father's name?'
Cultural outreach was a secondary part of the mission, Reeves said, and he had a leg up when it came to connecting with Ukrainians.
Reeves's maternal grandfather, Michael Wolodka, came from Ukraine to Canada as a eight-year-old boy, growing up in the ethnically diverse Whitney Pier area of Sydney.
Reeves visited Wolodka's hometown with some of his unit. He likened the reception he received at city hall to meeting Cape Bretoners for the first time.
"I think the first question they asked me was, 'Well, what's your father's name and what was his father's name?'"
The staff at city hall got on the phones, calling all 1,100 Wolodkas in the area to track down some relatives.
Trying to narrow down the search, they asked him questions he couldn't answer about what his grandfather remembered of the place.
Native son
Finally, they got his grandfather, now 94, on the phone.
"Oh my, as we were talking to him, his Ukrainian started to come back," Reeves said. "He started to give information about his mom, [who] lived on one side of the river and his dad lived on the other side, and I think there wasn't a dry eye in the room at that point."
A few weeks later, Reeves brought a larger contingent from his unit to the community.
"[We] rented every small motel room in the region, had a big cultural exposition that night," he said. "[We] got up the next morning, the troops were interested to know more, so we all went to church — they're Ukrainian Catholic — and then we had a soccer game against some of the Ukrainian veterans.
"So, [we] really built a strong bond with this small town and we kind of used that model throughout the rest of our deployment to get to know Ukrainians better."
Ambassadors
Reeves said the Ukrainian mission was "the most important and most impactful I've ever done."
The personnel under his command, "warrior-diplomats," he called them, had similar experiences.
"All of them … made strong connections with the Ukrainian military and civilians that they came in touch with," he said. "And you know, I'm proud, because they were ambassadors for Canada for six months straight, every day of the week, every day of the month."

Monitoring
CRIMEA: UN call to halt Cathedral eviction | 8 December 2019, 16:08 | Society-digest |
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World cannot overcome the current crisis by neglecting the destiny of Ukraine – Soviet dissident | 29 November 2019, 11:00 | Society-digest |
The Ecclesiastical Motherhood of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine | 25 November 2019, 15:16 | Society-digest |
Last comments
- 10 December 2019, 19:43
А скільки земельки вже духовенство загребло під свої потреби за часи незалежності хто порахує? Саме духовенство в усі часи і у всіх державах прагнуло бути і було латифундистами, а люди століттями
| - 10 December 2019, 13:24
Интересы православных христиан Украины представляет Православная Церковь Украины (ПЦУ).
| - 9 December 2019, 18:49
Так, вони - проімперські московські і промосковські (в Україні) церковники, безумовно, "знають", що чинять... Але це - т. зв. їхнє "знання" продиктоване і накинуте їм, по суті...
| - 9 December 2019, 16:20
П.Velovs, я не можу і не в праві заперечити слова Господа нашого Іісуса Христа, але скажу московські церковники добре знають, що вони чинять. І тут хотілося б нагадати свою позицію, щодо істерики
| - 9 December 2019, 16:05
"А ти коли молишся, " увійди до своєї комірчини, зачини свої двері, і помолися" Отцеві своєму, що в таїні; а Отець твій , що бачить таємне, віддасть тобі явно" (Мт 6:6). Звичайно
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