KIEV, Ukraine — Pope John Paul II embarked on a five-day trip through Ukraine on Saturday, seeking to quell a centuries-old conflict between Catholics and Orthodox Christians and urging long-suffering Ukrainians to continue their quest for democratic freedoms.
“I come among you, dear citizens of Ukraine, as a friend of your noble nation,” the 81-year-old pontiff said after arriving in the former Soviet republic.
The first papal visit to Ukraine followed days of protests by Orthodox Christians and communist politicians. Thousands of security forces were posted throughout Kiev, but there were no reported disturbances.
Russian Orthodox leaders in Moscow, who govern the largest of Ukraine’s three Orthodox branches, vehemently opposed the visit but urged their followers to cease demonstrations before the pope’s arrival. Moscow Patriarch Alexy II said the visit was designed to expand the Catholics’ presence in Ukraine and posed a threat to the Orthodox Church.
The pope tried to calm these fears. Describing himself as a “pilgrim of peace and brotherhood,” he reached out to Orthodox Christians and other non-Catholic faiths.
“I have not come here with the intention of proselytizing but to bear witness to Christ together with all Christians of every church,” he said.
The religious divisions in Ukraine reflect a broader conflict dating to 1054, when Christianity divided between the Eastern Orthodox faith and Catholics tied to papal authority in Rome.
Orthodox Christians constitute nearly half of Ukraine’s population. Catholics were outlawed after World War II but regained legal status in 1989 and now claim as many as 6 million members.
The pope, acknowledging “sad times” in the past, said the Catholic Church seeks forgiveness for any injustices against Orthodox Christians, who say Catholics forcibly took over their churches in western Ukraine in the early 1990s. The churches originally belonged to Catholics but were seized by the Soviets and transferred to Orthodox parishes.
“The most fervent wish that rises from my heart is that the errors of times past will not be repeated in the future,” the pope said. “The world is rapidly changing. What was unthinkable yesterday is within our reach today.”
The pope was invited to Ukraine by the country’s scandal-plagued president, Leonid Kuchma, whose administration has been implicated in the murder of a Ukrainian journalist critical of Kuchma. The pontiff made no reference to the scandal but called on political leaders to “resist the temptation to exploit power for personal or group interests.”
