JD Vance has repeatedly told interviewers that he doesn’t care what happens to Ukraine. This belies Vance’s claims to Catholic virtue. In 2023, Christianity Today reported findings by the Kyiv-based Institute for Religious Freedom, an independent research institute: Russian forces had “destroyed, damaged or looted” 500 churches and religious sites since their full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
That number has grown to over 600 ruined churches, according to more recent reports from human rights monitors. In April, former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who served as Donald Trump’s Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom, warned that religious liberty is under attack in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
“Russian forces are destroying religious buildings and torturing faith leaders who refuse to collaborate,” he said. In cities like Melitopol and Kherson, Russian forces have confiscated church property, shut down evangelical and Baptist churches, and abducted and tortured clergy. According to Bishop Oleksandr Babiychuk, “Arbitrary detentions of religious leaders is a standard practice of the Russian military.
” This summer, thanks to the intercession of Pope Francis, the Russians released two Ukrainian Catholic priests, Father Ivan Levytsky and Father Bohdan Geleta, who had endured 19 months of interrogation and near-starvation. The treatment of evangelical and Baptist believers has been equally horrendous, including beatings, harassment, “disappearances” and sum.
