How Russia's War Is Threatening Catholic Tradition
Father Daniel Galadza explains how the war in Ukraine reshaped Eastern Christianity, why Pope Leo XIV is championing the Christian East, and why it is attracting new converts.
For many Western Christians, Eastern Christianity remains unfamiliar—a world of Byzantine liturgy, ancient traditions, and churches that often seem distant from the life of the modern Catholic Church. Yet in recent years, interest in the Christian East has grown dramatically, even as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally reshaped the relationship between Eastern Christians themselves.
Father Daniel Galadza is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest, liturgical scholar, and professor at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. A member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, he argues that the Christian East has far more to offer the universal Church than beautiful liturgy or ancient customs. The deeper challenge, he says, is a way of living the Christian life that is rooted in communion, asceticism, and a tradition that continually calls believers to deeper conversion.
Drawing on his experience as both a scholar and a priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Galadza reflects on how the war in Ukraine has transformed relations between Ukrainian and Russian Christianity, why Pope Leo XIV’s early emphasis on the Eastern Churches was so significant, and what explains the growing number of Western Christians exploring Byzantine Christianity. He also discusses the vocation of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the place of fasting and liturgical life, the tradition of married priests, and why authentic Eastern Christianity demands much more than an appreciation for its beauty.
In this conversation, we discuss:
How Russia’s invasion changed Eastern Christianity
What the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church offers the wider Church
Why Pope Leo XIV’s message to the Eastern Churches matters
Why more Western Christians are discovering Byzantine Christianity
Fasting, liturgy, and the challenge of authentic spiritual life
Married priests, communion with Rome, and the future of the Christian East
This conversation offers an illuminating introduction to Eastern Christianity through one of its leading contemporary scholars, exploring not only the traditions of the Christian East but also why they matter for the future of the Catholic Church.