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Episode details

World Service,15 Apr 2022,26 mins

Ukraine: Faith in a time of war

Heart and Soul

Available for over a year

Easter and Passover are among the most important religious festivals of the year for Christians and Jews. But after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, how will the people of faith still left in the country celebrate? Is it possible to practise your belief when your country is at war? In Odesa, an Orthodox priest is preparing to deliver an Easter service as best he can, even though half of his congregation has left. In the west of Ukraine, members of the Jewish Ukrainian Social Initiative are organising supplies for those elderly members of the faith left in Kyiv. And Radio Maria, a Christian radio station based in the capital, is still broadcasting to as much of the country as possible, and has seen listening figures soar. But will it be safe enough for them to broadcast mass at Easter? Julia Paul speaks to people from the Orthodox, Jewish and Catholic faiths in Ukraine, to hear what it is like living, and worshipping, in a war zone.

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