EuroMaidan Revolution

George Weigel: The exhaust fumes of Stalinism

By George Weigel.

Published Jan. 14, 2014 at 10:37 pm

Priests and faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church pray in front of a statue of the Mother of God at the Independence Square in Kyiv on December 4, 2013, as part of protest over the government's turn-back on a deal with the European Union. AFP PHOTO/ VASILY MAXIM

Photo by AFP

The religious dimension of the EuroMaidan protests in Ukraine these past two months has gone largely unremarked. Yet in Kiev and elsewhere, the day’s activities at these oases of civil society are punctuated with prayers offered by clergymen of a variety of Christian communities: Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Protestant. That fact in itself says something about the nascent civic community that is being born in Ukraine today. Ecumenical fellow-feeling and cooperation have not been a prominent feature of Ukrainian religious life in the past. Yet now, with the future of the nation (and no small part of the future of Europe) being contested amids snowstorms, tent cities, flying universities, and police brutality, Ukrainian Christians have discovered a common cause: the moral and cultural renewal of Ukraine, which the brave men and women of the various EuroMaidans understand is essential to free politics and free economics in the future.

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