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　　From the outset, clergy played a part in thedemonstrations in Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine,as professor Andrei Zubov, an expert on the historyof religions, points out.

　　“Priests of different confessions, different Orthodoxgroups, Unitarian, Greek-Catholics - everyone wastogether,” he said.

　　While church leaders of all faiths in Ukraine appear to support the new political leadership inKyiv, the Russian clergy are keeping silent about recent events.

　　“We have yet to hear the Russian Orthodox Church take a stance on the situation in Ukraine.They have not even called for a truce during Easter,” said Alexander Soldatov, a Russianjournalist who covers religion.

　　The current conflict in Ukraine may be causing a schism between the Russian OrthodoxChurch and its Ukranian affiliate. The Russian Orthodox Church, which has close ties to theRussian government, would not comment for this report. Professor Zubov had this to say.

　　“If they come out in support of President Putin, their Ukrainian chapter could break off. If theysupport Ukraine, it would cause big problems with the Russian presidential administration,"said Zubov.

　　About 40 percent of Orthodox believers in Ukraine are Russian. Zubov and Soldatov sayRussian Patriarch Kirill is at odds with President Putin over the conflict. As evidence, they citeKirill's absence from Putin's March 18 Crimea address in the Kremlin.

　　But Ukranian Orthodox priest Yakov Krotov dismisses that idea.

　　"Officially, the church is completely behind Putin. The rumors about Patriarch Kirill and Putin arejust rumors," he said.

　　Krotov thinks Patriarch Kirill is hedging his bets politically and called his silence "meaningless.

　　Soldatov says, whereas the clergy was active in the Kyiv demonstrations, it is nowhere to beseen in the pro-Russian protests in eastern Ukraine.

　　“While there were numerous priests of all confessions at the Maidan square [in Kyiv], none arestanding on the barricades surrounding the administrative buildings in Luhansk and Donetsk,”he said.

　　For both Russian and Ukranian Orthodox believers, Easter is the most significant religiousholiday. And this year it coincides with Easter in the West. Many faithful are no doubt prayingthat Ukranians and Russians can avoid an escalation of the current conflict.

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