So you thought the Ukraine conflict had nothing to do with religion. Think again.

You could be forgiven for thinking that the conflict in Ukraine was one of division between those who look for closer ties with the West and those who hanker after a return to some sort of union, perhaps, federation, with Russia. You could be forgiven for thinking that the conflict had nothing to do with religion. Think again.
Problems with an East/ West split in Ukraine go back to the sixteenth Century when the mainly Greek Catholic and Orthodox Country was ceded to the predominantly Roman Catholic, Polish/ Lithuanian Commonwealth. Lying on this religious fault line, Ukraine has suffered since from unrest particularly when three hundred years later the Greek Catholic Church joined forces with the Russian Orthodox Church to attack the Polish Roman Catholic community resulting in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. When Stalin took over the USSR the Greek Catholic Church was abolished in Ukraine. Since secession from the Russian Federation the Greek Catholic Church has been reinstated but religious divisions in the Country remain.
As usual the Abrahamic religions are at the fore in human conflict and as usual many Churches in the UK will welcome a handful of the faithful to hear a sermon about peace on earth. What hypocrisy! Do the Churches operate in a real world?