The Church in the Bloodlands
In First Things, Cyril Hovorun discusses the collaborative, and sometimes harmful, relationship between religion and state in Ukraine. Hovorun writes, “What is needed today, not only in Ukraine but in every post-Soviet country, is church leadership that is clear-minded about the perils of a too-close relation between Christian witness and state power…The single greatest imperative is to encourage and engage civil society.” As in Germany after the Nazi regime, Hovorun believes that Ukrainian churches can serve as “clear spaces” for citizens to heal from current conflicts.