Missing Humanity in Ukraine and a Malaysian Airplane

I was hoping that this 300th post would carry more good news. But all last week we watched in horror the mystery that is not yet clear of a Malaysian airplane that vanished from its normal route. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, its crew and all its passengers are still not found in spite of global search by satellites, security experts and investigators in Malaysia and the U.S. among others.  The New York Times has reported on Sunday March 16 "A signaling system was disabled on the missing Malaysia Airlines jet before a pilot spoke to air traffic control without mentioning any trouble, a senior Malaysian official said Sunday, reinforcing theories that one or both of the pilots may have been involved in diverting the plane and adding urgency to the investigation of their pasts and possible motivations.With the increasing likelihood that Flight 370 was purposefully diverted and flown thousands of miles from its planned route, Malaysian officials faced more questions about an investigation, marked by days of contradictory government statements, that has ballooned into a global goose chase for information." This looks more or less like another hijacking of an airplane that reminds us of 9/11. But we hope this time that the passengers and crew members are safe on an island somewhere in Asia. If it becomes evident that the disaster is caused by an act of terrorism, the global community needs to take actions to make sure this does not happen again. The most terrible thing is having so many innocent people pay with their lives for political gains.  Pope Francis asked tens of thousands of Pilgrims in Rome to pray for the missing passengers and crew members and their families.

While nearly everyone is concerned about the fate of the Malaysian airplane, a global concern is also rising about the fate of Ukraine after the Russians pushed Crimea Region to rejoin Russia in spite of agreements signed by Russia in 1994 that guarantees the integrity of Ukraine as a sovereign country. While Russia seems to be isolated internationally from the global political players, the people of Crimea voted to rejoin the Federation of Russians on Sunday March 16.  But the problem seems to be larger. People in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are fearful of an expansionist Putin that seems to be regenerating the dream of the Soviet Union. Some analysts compare Putin to Hitler who started World War II by invading Poland with the same argument of rescuing his comrades -"Germans"!  However, Don Murray of Canada's CBC offered a comparative analysis to the start of both World War I and World War II  arguing that the Western allies today are far from united against Russia's lion:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/crimea-referendum-tough-talk-likely-only-response-to-putin-s-coup-1.2575125
My concern is with Christians who seem to continue their division between East and West. I still hope that Pope Francis meeting with Eastern Christian leaders in Jerusalem in May will result in more than a protocol of a mutual kiss of peace. I am not sure how in this new situation will Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople represent the Orthodox Churches, given the fact that the Patriarch of the largest Orthodox Church of 200 Million Russian Orthodox Christians is in Moscow. Could prayers of Lent make a difference as they are directed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary?