A politically correct Ukrainian would say that the joint declaration of the Russian Orthodox and Roman-Catholic Churches was a disappointment. For them, this is a real tragedy, ruining all their hopes. The super-idea of Maidan, to transform the Ukraine into a Catholic anti-Russian country has not been supported by the high authority of Galician Uniates – the Pope.

After the meeting of His Holiness Patriarch Kyrill with Pope Francis, the hope of making all the citizens of the Ukraine Catholics without exception, under the specious pretense of establishing a united local church, was ruined.

The Primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, His Beatitude Svyatoslav “The ‘Uniatism’ of earlier days, that brought one community together with another by separating it from its Church, is not a way to establish unity”, - the Primates stated in the joint declaration.

The Vatican virtually acknowledged its mistake, depriving the Uniate’s priests of its support in their desire to become the sole church in the Ukraine. That’s because such things are possible only at great cost, as proved by recent post-Maidan history. The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church has always been ready to shed blood and had already shed it for a false target. But the Roman-Catholic Church does not want to be responsible for its Ukrainian brothers, as was stated in public.

The Primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, His Beatitude Svyatoslav, was forced to respond to the citizens of Galicia who once again felt deceived by the West.

“Beyond any doubt this text [referring to the text of the joint declaration] deeply disappointed many believers of our Church as well as other citizens of the Ukraine. Today, many of them appealed to me on this issue, saying they felt betrayed by the Vatican, disappointed by half-truths in this document and even by the fact that the Apostolic Capital indirectly supports Russia’s aggression against the Ukraine. Of course I understand these feelings; however I call upon our believers not to make a drama of this declaration, exaggerating its meaning for the church. There have been other similar statements and we will survive this one”.

His Beatitude Svyatoslav is cunning: there have been no such joint declarations for almost a thousand years. Fortunately, the two biggest apostolic churches managed to find common ground in relation to the most urgent issues, including those of the Uniates.

Rome understands that a united Ukraine can be only federative. There can only be two local churches – the Greek-Catholic in Galicia and the Orthodox of the Moscow Patriarchate in the rest of the territory.

The civil confrontation in the Ukraine will end only under these two conditions. The Greek-Catholics as well as the Kiev authorities will have to decide sooner or later which is more important: Christian peace or a religious war.