Abstract
Relevance of the research topic. Following the first period of the emancipation of Orthodoxy in Ukraine, which began in 2018–2019, it became clear that the two Ukrainian Orthodox churches, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), continued to pursue independence each along its own path. While the OCU was strengthening its autocephalous status, the UOC, which at the time had virtually ignored participation in the 2018 Unification Council, began its own movement toward independence from the Moscow Patriarchate by convening the Council of its Church on 27 May 2022. The lack of synchronicity in the actions of these two churches, the heterogeneity of the UOC in its attitude toward the issue of autocephaly, and the rivalry between the OCU and the UOC have made direct dialogue between them increasingly relevant. In recent times, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has also begun insisting on such dialogue. The organization and conduct of this dialogue constitute the relevance of the present study.
Statement of the problem. The movement of the two churches toward autocephaly, or toward its further consolidation, cannot by itself lead to the establishment in Ukraine of a single Local Orthodox Church based on the Tomos granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2018-2019. An urgent necessity for such unification is direct dialogue between these churches with the participation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Analysis of recent research and publications. The chosen topic remains at the center of attention for both secular and confessional scholars. It has become especially relevant in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the attempts of the Moscow Patriarchate to divide world Orthodoxy according to attitudes toward the situation within the Orthodox environment of Ukraine, as well as efforts to develop proposals for organizing dialogue between the OCU and the UOC. Among secular researchers of these issues, particular mention should be made of I. Bohachevska, O. Brodetskyi, V. Bondarenko, O. Sahan, L. Fylypovych, H. Tselkovskyi, and Yu. Chornomorets, as well as religious publicists T. Derkach, L. Samokhvalova, and K. Shchotkina, among others. Church scholars including Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun, Deacon Andrei Kuraev, Archbishop Sylvester Stojchev, Metropolitan Yevstratiy Zoria, Metropolitan Klyment Vecheria, M. Mitrokhin, S. Chapnin, K. Luchenko, Emmanuel Adamakis, Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, and others have also published numerous materials related to the chosen topic.
Objective of the study. To develop a conceptual model for the unification of the two Ukrainian Orthodox churches on the basis of the granted Tomos, in a manner acceptable to both churches.
Presentation of the main material. Drawing upon the principal achievements of scholars concerning the unification of the OCU and the UOC, while taking into account differences in their positions and the directives of the hierarchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the study seeks to formulate a realistic model for reconciling the interests of the two Ukrainian Orthodox churches within a single Local Orthodox Church.
Conclusions. Only the unification of all Orthodox in Ukraine will mean the end of more than forty years of conflicts between Orthodox jurisdictions and the formation of the ability of Orthodox Ukrainians to resist the destructive actions of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine.
Keywords
References
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