Presidential Omission Criticized in Ukraine

In congratulating the nation on the occasion of the Lord's Nativity President Viktor F. Yanukovych of Ukraine failed to mention the Ukrainian Catholic Church's celebration of the holiday alongside the country's Ukrainian Orthodox Churches. The vast majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians, but some three to four million (out of forty-five million) are Byzantine Rite Catholics under the jurisdiction of the Vatican. More here.

Pictured is President Yanukovych during this year's Nativity services at the Pochayev Lavra in the western Ukraine.