The pope's Ukraine visit

The election of a Polish pope set in motion the chain of events that led to the collapse of Communism and the return of democracy to central and eastern Europe. But in the fading twilight of this longest papacy of modern times, Pope John Paul II is learning in Ukraine this week that it is far harder to heal the spiritual wounds that haunt the region than tear down its oppressive old political order.

The ferocious, quite unspiritual hostility of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Pope's visit bespeaks Russia's belief that Ukraine, a country pivotal to the stability of Europe, belongs to its sphere of influence. Similarly, the ecstatic welcome for John Paul II in Catholic western Ukraine, culturally so similar to his own Poland, reflects a desire that Ukraine, like Poland, should be anchored in the West. This is the minefield the Pope has entered. By traveling to Ukraine, the Pope may have fulfilled a personal ambition. Unfortunately, he risks deepening the very divide he professes he want to narrow.

-- The Independent, London