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Good morning. Today, a popular comedian with no political experience Volodymer Zelensky will be sworn in as the President of Ukraine. Having won 73% of the vote, he will seek a general election as the current parliament in his opinion has lost people’s trust. His party, ‘Servant of the People’, is named after his popular sitcom where he played a teacher who is unexpectedly elected president. One US commentator said, ‘probably the least prepared individual to head a democracy in world history’ – although I suspect I may not be the only one to see the irony in this remark.

Yet the challenges he faces are not a laughing matter. Just a few weeks ago, I was in Kiev giving a series of lectures on science and religion at various universities, theological seminaries and IT companies. I was told of the corruption that has reduced Ukraine to be one of the poorest countries in Europe. Its relationship with Russia is long and complicated. In the East violence still flared with separatists. I walked around Maiden, the square in the centre of the city where five years ago, 98 had been killed in demonstrations, with thousands more injured and missing. I met leaders of the former underground church who had prayed in the square and stood with this popular revolution at the height of the violence. They spoke of the years of oppression under Soviet rule and the continual targeting by the KGB. Even this weekend, Ukraine remembered the 75th anniversary of the ethnic cleansing which involved the deportation of nearly 200,000 Crimean Tatars. This is a country coming to terms with its past and struggling to emerge with a new identity.

There were however many pictures of hope. The cathedrals and monasteries of the Kiev skyline testified to a long history of faith, now worked out in a new generation. I asked a young Christian student what I could pray for – for her, her church and the forthcoming election. She replied, ‘that God would give us grace to forgive those who oppressed and hurt us’. It was a fascinating answer – pointing away from the cult of personality, personal gain or short-term economic or military victory. In this, I saw the teaching of Jesus.

In a week of European elections and a forthcoming party leadership contest Ukraine challenges me to see the great gift of democracy and that the future is shaped by those who are prepared to see the bigger picture and be servants of the people.

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