Displaying items by tag: Europe

Dressed in the colours of Ukraine, Vladyslav Bondar, a ballet dancer, moves delicately across the stage of Rotterdam's mediaeval St Lawrence Church. He is performing with the United Ukrainian Ballet at a Salvation Army Christmas party - a setting far removed from the war in his homeland. ‘I wanted to fight for Ukraine.’ Vladyslav said after the performance, knowing it could have meant the end of his career as a professional dancer. But instead of taking up arms, he joined over 70 other Ukrainians who make up the United Ukrainian Ballet - a dance company formed directly in response to the outbreak of war. Fellow dancer Oleksii Kniazkov said, ‘Every Ukrainian has his own battlefield. And the stage is ours.’ Their dance is a dance of defiance.

The Archbishop of Canterbury visited Bucha and saw evidence of atrocities and civilian killings by Russian troops, as millions of people remain without power or heating after attacks on Ukraine's power grid. The most senior cleric in the Church of England was highlighting the need for support for Ukraine ahead of a tough winter. ‘I am clear that Putin chose to start the war and release the evil that comes from that’, he said. It is proper to support a ‘victim nation’ that is ‘being overrun by aggression’. Stating that the international community had a ‘duty of care’ to protect weaker nations, he said that the consequences of letting Ukraine down would be ‘infinitely worse’ than carrying on the support for Kyiv. ‘It would be more expensive and politically catastrophic because it would prove that Putin was right when he thought the West would not stand together for long enough for this to end justly and fairly.’

In a stunning announcement, President Zelenskiy said he intends to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Ukraine. His decision came on the heels of an investigation into the church's ties with ‘the Patriarchate in Russia.’ Ukraine will also ban the activities of any religious organisation affiliated with ‘centres of influence’ within Russia. `We will ensure for our state the fullness of independence - in particular, spiritual independence. We will never allow anyone to build an empire inside the Ukrainian soul’, Zelensky said. Orthodox Christians are the largest demographic in Ukraine. There have been some internal disagreements about who they support in the war between Ukraine and Russia, and Zelensky fears Russia may be using the church to plant agents in the church to undermine Ukraine’s war effort. The majority of Orthodox leaders have announced their support for Ukraine, and Ukraine’s Orthodox Church announced its full independence from Moscow’s Patriarchate. It does not support Russia’s invasion.

In light of the Russian attack on Ukraine, many politicians have spoken of a turning point in history. ‘Rarely does evil show its face so openly,’ said one daily newspaper. Our society has largely ceased to reckon with the reality of evil, so how do we confront it? Do we allow ourselves to be infected with negative thoughts and feelings, even hatred? A Ukrainian brother’s prayer can guide us to real prayer. He prayed that, despite the brutal war, hearts would not harden but remain soft. May the Holy Spirit transform all stony hearts. The Conference on the Future of Europe has presented its final report, containing 49 proposals about Europe’s future. In the entire text of 336 pages the words ‘religion’, ‘faith’, and ‘church’ are not mentioned. Faith having a significance in the future of Europe is no longer considered.

One million Ukrainians have fled to Germany since Russia's invasion. On the outskirts of Berlin, almost 1,000 people sleep in giant heated tents on a former airport runway. The German capital is struggling to house Ukraine's refugees properly. As winter deepens and Russia continues attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure, authorities are hastily preparing more emergency shelters in anticipation of up to 10,000 more Ukrainians. Germany initially extended a warm welcome, but there are now growing concerns about how best to accommodate such a large number of people. Around 100 Ukrainians arrive every day at the main refugee reception centre in the airport terminal. Workers in brightly coloured tabards lead them to departure halls filled with trestle tables offering food, medical aid and a bed for a ‘temporary’ stay. But many will stay in bunks in shared cubicles or tents for longer than a few days. Permanent accommodation is getting harder to find.

Polish video game company PlayWay SA has announced it will launch the first instalment of the world’s first game that allows players to simulate the life of Jesus, including performing miracles and battling Satan. The prologue, I Am Jesus Christ, is a stand-alone game which serves as an introduction; it will be available from 1 December. The full version, which will be published in the second quarter of next year, will allow players to walk in the footsteps of Jesus ‘from birth to resurrection’, recreating key events from his life, such as the Last Supper. Players will be able to perform miracles and carry out quests, including a fight with Satan in the desert. Along the way, players discover Jesus’s story from his perspective and will be able to cure the sick, help the needy and interact with over sixty characters, including Christ’s disciples.

In under two weeks, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine became a full-fledged humanitarian crisis. The turmoil is affecting gospel workers in Ukraine and throughout the region in significant ways. The Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) reports a sense of excitement. Kherson, a very important city to Ukrainians, is now accessible. Battlefields are constantly changing, with villages and cities burned to the ground. People are hiding in their basements: drones, missiles, and rockets are attacking their infrastructure, and they are bracing for a terrible winter. A new SGA initiative, Heat and Hope, will provide heating, blankets, and food to Ukrainians. They work through over 240 local churches across the embattled regions. They will not only be centres of warmth when all else has been destroyed, but centres of hope. In the middle of a bitter cold winter, these churches are proclaiming the hope and love of Jesus.

Britain and France have now agreed to unite to stop illegal migrants from crossing the Channel. Interior minister Suella Braverman said Britain faced an ‘invasion’ from people in small boats, saying, ‘It is in the interests of the UK and French governments to solve this problem together. There are no quick fixes, but this arrangement means we can have more gendarmes patrolling French beaches and ensure UK and French officers work hand in hand to stop people smugglers.’ There will be 40% more UK-funded officers patrolling French beaches in the next five months. A task force will focus on reversing the rise in Albanian nationals and organised crime groups exploiting illegal routes. British officers will work in French-led control rooms and on the ground to improve coordination and intelligence sharing. There will be drones, detection dog teams, CCTV, and helicopters to help discover and prevent crossings, plus reception and removal centres in France to prevent journeys to the UK of economic migrants.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, a major exporter of grain, led to the blocking of all grain shipments until an agreement called the Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed in Istanbul between Ukraine, Russia and the UN. This agreement will expire on 19 November unless renewed. Renewal negotiations were being facilitated by the UN throughout October until the 29th, when a drone attack on Russian naval ships prompted Russia to suspend participation. Talks resumed on 2 November, with hopes to extend the agreement for a year. On 17 November Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure said the initiative would be prolonged, but only for 120 days.

Russia has ordered its military to pull out of Kherson, the only regional capital it has captured since invading Ukraine. Russia will entirely leave the western bank of Dnipro River, saying it wasn’t possible to continue supplying the city. Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said his country is moving ‘very carefully’ in response to the announcement, fearing a Russian trap.