author:
Viktor Bondarenko (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1781-8370 )
Relevance of the research topic. For Ukraine, as a predominantly Orthodox country where Orthodox Christians constitute an indisputable majority of believers and where Orthodoxy has more than a thousand years of roots, the coexistence of several Orthodox jurisdictions oriented toward the Ecumenical (Constantinopolitan) and the Moscow Patriarchates is extremely dangerous for our state and society, which have been suffering from Russian aggression for already the second decade. Resolving the contradictions that exist between the two largest Orthodox churches in Ukraine emerges as a mega-goal for our nation and therefore constitutes the relevance of this article.
Problem statement. More than three decades of confrontation among Orthodox believers in Ukraine have led to a loss of their influence in our country, especially under conditions of the vigorous religious renaissance that began in the post-Soviet period of its development. However, the Unification Council held on 15 December 2018, for various reasons proved to be an ineffective means of uniting Orthodoxy in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was in canonical unity with the Moscow Patriarchate, practically did not join this process. The unifying potential of the Tomos on the autocephaly of Orthodoxy in Ukraine, signed on 5 January 2019, was never realized. Consequently, the issue of further searching for ways to unite Orthodoxy in Ukraine remains relevant.
Analysis of recent research and publications. The unification process of Orthodoxy in Ukraine did not lead to an effective resolution of problems in relations between the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Moreover, disruptions in relations between the Ecumenical and Moscow Patriarchates, which began to manifest as early as 1922, intensified, and on 15 October 2018, the Moscow Patriarchate announced the severance of Eucharistic communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Even earlier contradictions between them negatively affected the holding of the Pan-Orthodox Council in Crete in 2016 and, in essence, split world Orthodoxy, preventing the development of a generally recognized model for granting autocephaly to Orthodox churches and, consequently, the recognition of the autocephaly of the OCU. These issues constitute the core of Orthodox-theological and religious-studies scholarly inquiry aimed at resolving the aforementioned problems.
Research objective. The task of uniting Orthodoxy in Ukraine remains relevant. Objectively interested in it are all Orthodox churches of the world except the Russian one, as well as the Orthodox churches of Ukraine, the OCU and the UOC, and other Orthodox ecclesiastical formations operating on the territory of our country, the overwhelming majority of Ukrainian society, and the Ukrainian state. This actualizes the search for ways to unite Orthodoxy in Ukraine in order to realize the unifying potential of the Tomos on the autocephaly of Orthodoxy in Ukraine and the very model of unification of the OCU and the UOC, which would maximally take into account the interests of both churches.
Main material presentation. The article analyzes the causes of inter-Orthodox contradictions in Ukraine, assesses the current stage of relations between the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, taking into account the impact of the circumstances of the prolonged Russian-Ukrainian war, and models possible ways to resolve inter-Orthodox tensions and to form a single Local Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Conclusions. The unification of Orthodoxy in Ukraine can be carried out through the efforts of the Ecumenical Patriarchate or the four ancient patriarchates—Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Solving this task may also require holding a Pan-Orthodox conference that would develop a model of mutually acceptable unification of Orthodoxy in Ukraine. The author, in turn, expresses views on possible operational actions that could lead the Orthodox believers of our country to unification.
Key words: Orthodox Church of Ukraine; Ukrainian Orthodox Church; paths to the unification of Orthodoxy in Ukraine; Constantinopolitan (Ecumenical) and Russian Orthodox Churches; pentarchy; world Orthodoxy; Pan-Orthodox conference on the unification of Orthodoxy in Ukraine; Orthodox churches under the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
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