What is behind the Pope’s ambiguous statements about Russia’s war? UkraineWorld spoke to Dmytro Horyevoy, religious scholar, director of the Center for Religious Security NGO. Key points – in our brief, #UkraineWorldAnalysis 1/8
We perceive the Pope from a European, rational, thoughtful point of view. But this is from the Global South, and thus from a completely different context. And this involves differences in perspective that may not be obvious. 2/8
Nowadays, the majority of the Catholic Church’s flock is made up of people in the Global South, rather than Europeans and Americans. And these statements, which seem strange, are contextually dependent, because our war is something completely distant for the Global South. 3/8
The Pope, who is from 🇦🇷, wants to reconcile the conflicting parties. That is why we see such a mix of statements: starting from the Way of the Cross involving 🇷🇺 alongside 🇺🇦, complaints that the war in 🇺🇦 distracts the world from other problems, to comments on 🇷🇺’ cruelty. 4/8
For example, the Pope contributed to liberating some of the Azovstal prisoners. Therefore, it seems that he is doing something symbolic toward Russia in order to remain on hand. 5/8
The Pope’s stances do not affect Ukrainian Greek Catholics’ attitudes. While the Pope in Rome may see fit to equivocate, Ukrainian Greek Catholics unanimously see Russia as an aggressor. 6/8
Most of Ukraine’s Greek Catholics come from Galicia, and they have their own painful history of relations with Russia. UGCC is part of the Catholic Church, and its bishops are part of various management structures. 7/8
But there are various lobbies in Rome, for example, the Hungarian one, which does not want the UGCC to spread, because it would interfere with their interests in Transcarpathia. 8/8

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More from @ukraine_world

Mar 21
The self-proclaimed President of #Belarus 🇧🇾 , Alyaksandr #Lukashenka, made yet another derogatory comment about Ukraine's President Volodymyr #Zelenskyy. 1/5.

#InfoWatch #AgainstRussianLies
This time, he spoke about how Ukraine allegedly facilitated the sabotage of a #Russian A-50 airborne early warning & control aircraft operating from #Belarusian territory to monitor #Ukrainian airspace. 2/5
#Lukashenka believes that #Ukraine 🇺🇦 and the CIA were behind this incident, and that "there is only one conclusion [to take from the incident]: President #Zelenskyy is just a louse”. 3/5
Read 5 tweets
Mar 21
📌 What the Russian invaders took from Khersonians by occupying the city. #UkraineWorldTestimony

Viktoria Kirilova, a local resident of Kherson and the owner of a podiatry clinic spoke about what happened in the city after the arrival of the Russian occupiers. 1/10
Ukrainian petrol was totally gone. During the first month of the occupation, Kherson residents had to all travel on foot. It was dangerous to use cars because the occupiers would simply take them away from people. 2/10
The Russians expelled people from their apartments and houses. "In my opinion, it was better to have a house destroyed by one of our missiles than by having the occupiers live in it. They are a nation of freaks. They just brazenly started living among us," says Viktoria. 3/10
Read 10 tweets
Mar 21
Zelenskyy wants to keep Beijing onside as an investor, trade partner and potential middleman — rather than push it away, and run the risk of Xi approving major exports of arms to Russia’s forces. 1/1
politico.eu/article/volody…
🇺🇦&🇨🇳 have many painful issues in cooperation, including Motor Sich, but Ukraine is in no hurry to impose sanctions against China and believes it can still bring China to its side. 1\2
Zelenskyy says 🇨🇳's peace proposals respect international law on which it is possible to work. 🇨🇳 could potentially pressure Russia to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative for much longer. China needs Europe and can show it by creating the image of a mediator in this war. 1\3
Read 4 tweets
Mar 20
The story of Kateryna Markova from Zaporizhzhya, who evacuated from her hometown with her little son. #UkraineWorldTestimony 1/12 Image
Even before the full-scale Russian invasion, Kateryna Markova's family knew that there would be an attack, so they were looking for ways to get their little son Markian out in advance. 2/12
On February 21, Kateryna bought tickets to Antalya for herself, her mother, and her son. To save $100, she bought tickets for February 24, not February 22. They wanted to believe that this trip would be just quick getaway to somewhere warm. 3/12
Read 12 tweets
Mar 20
The story of Myroslava Svistovych, who left occupied Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, with her daughter. #UkraineWorldTestimony

On March 7, 2022, Myroslava & Lada managed to escape. At that time, there was heavy fighting between 🇷🇺 and 🇺🇦 forces, so it was dangerous to stay at home. 1/11
The evacuation from Irpin was also highly dangerous and risky. Myroslava and her daughter were almost killed trying to leave the city. 2/11
"Our 🚗 sped down Tyschenko Street and turned onto Universitetska Street. A friend from Kyiv 📱 me. "Taya, we are in a hurry to evacuate, I’ll call you back later." I turned off 📱 and saw how the windshield of our car was blown away by the burst fire…", Myroslava recalls. 3/11
Read 11 tweets
Mar 20
Lukashenka called Zelenskyy "a louse".
He also insulted other Belarusian neighbours, referring to Poland and Lithuania as "scumbags who are working against Belarus."
1/5
#UW_InfoWatch #AgainstRussianLies
The self-proclaimed President of Belarus used such rhetoric, accusing Kyiv of alleged self-defence by facilitating the sabotage of a Russian A-50 AEW&C aircraft that was widely used in the ongoing war to control Ukraine's airspace.
2/5
Mocking Kyiv's earlier attempts to sign a nonaggression pact under the auspices of the UN, Lukashenka anyway stresses that Belarus won't enter the war. Noteworthy, he frequently uses the term “war” instead of Russia's term “special military operation.” It's a crime in Russia.
3/5
Read 5 tweets

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