Word: orthodox
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Once again, June 28--the feast of St. Vitus in the Christian Orthodox calendar--had written itself into the history of the Balkans. On St. Vitus day in 1389, Serbs were defeated by the Turks at the battle of Kosovo Polje, the event that launched Serbian claims to eternal victimhood. On the same day in 1914, Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip killed Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo, plunging Europe into World War I. And on the same day in 1989, Milosevic--speaking at Kosovo Polje--launched his career as the defender of Serbian nationalism. Twelve years later, he finds himself imprisoned...
...Ukraine trip is certainly a lot more complicated than the Greek trip. In Greece, the pope was able to turn animosity against the Vatican into a more positive feeling by apologizing for the sacking of Constantinople. But the difficult relations between Catholics and the Orthodox in the Ukraine are much more recent and more complex. They won't easily be ameliorated in a rhetorical stroke...
...second difference is that while the Orthodox Church in Greece is united, in the Ukraine it's divided into factions, the largest of which is connected to the Russian Church and disinclined to get too comfortable with the pope. So while there's something remarkable in this man's faith in what can be achieved by his personal presence and desire for fellowship, personal diplomacy has a better chance in a situation of lesser complexity...
...Burke: The Catholic Church was pushed underground during the Soviet era after they were banned by Stalin. So when it began to reemerge after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it began to demand the return of Church property that had been taken over by the Orthodox. And the tensions this created have been intense...
...irony is how close they really are. Eastern rite Catholics and Orthodox Christians have most of the same sacraments and beliefs, and their masses are almost identical - although, of course, the Orthodox don't pray for the pope at Easter. Still, the animosity is deep and intense. It's amazing that the pope is even able to visit the Ukraine right now. That in itself is a sign that the tensions today are not as bad as they were a decade ago when the Catholic Church first reemerged in the Ukraine...