Pope to arrive in religiously divided Ukraine

Small groups of Orthodox believers prayed today for protection against what they consider an insidious Catholic influence as Pope John Paul II headed to predominantly Orthodox Ukraine, and Orthodox leaders again ruled out a meeting with the pontiff.

The Vatican has called the trip, starting today, a mission of ‘‘peace and reconciliation’’ and hopes it will help calm inter-church tensions and even pave the way for a pilgrimage to Russia like Ukraine, a predominantly Orthodox country.