Tag: Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Humble Abuse and Responsibility <br><span style='color:#8D8381;font-size:18px;'>Some Reflections on the Situation Around the UOC</span>
Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Public Life

Humble Abuse and Responsibility
Some Reflections on the Situation Around the UOC

First, I would like to say two things. From 2009 to 2019, I was quite involved in the life of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC)—from singing and helping a priest-monk at a local parish near Kyiv to assisting the bishop during international trips to translating for international ecumenical guests at Lavra, the metropolia, and the…

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Of Camels and Gnats
Religion and Politics

Of Camels and Gnats

As I write this, the drama surrounding the expulsion of the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under Metropolitan Onuphry from the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is being played out, a drama simultaneously sad, understandable, and scandalous. I first visited the Lavra in November of 1988. A portion of the monastery had just been re-opened, and it…

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Drama at the Lavra: What’s at Stake?
Religion and Conflict, Religion and Politics

Drama at the Lavra: What’s at Stake?

The decision of the Ukrainian government to terminate the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s (UOC) lease at the Kyiv Pechers’ka Lavra monastery complex has dominated Orthodox news in recent weeks. The events leading up to the decision have stirred up emotions, generated debate, and given birth to rumors on the state’s objectives. Dispassionate analysis is at the…

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Save Kyiv Theological Academy
Education and Academia, Religion and Politics

Save Kyiv Theological Academy

Students of Kyiv Theological Academy In 2022, the Russian Federation began full-scale military aggression against Ukraine. There are already many thousands of victims in this terrible war, not only military, but also civilians.   The Ukrainian Orthodox Church took the side of the Ukrainian people from the very beginning of the war. Already on February 24,…

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On the Way to a Unified Orthodox Church in Ukraine <br><span style='color:#8D8381;font-size:18px;'>Challenges and Perspectives</span>
Inter-Orthodox Relations

On the Way to a Unified Orthodox Church in Ukraine
Challenges and Perspectives

On February 16, the second face-to-face meeting of initiative groups of clergy and laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) was held in Sophia National Sanctuary Complex in Kyiv. Its final appeal we published on Public Orthodox earlier. Now we follow up with the impressions and comments of…

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Six Months Later: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Still at the Crossroads
Inter-Orthodox Relations

Six Months Later: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Still at the Crossroads

by Andriy Fert In late May 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) held a local council to announce independence from the Moscow Patriarchate. But six months since, it is still being determined what that independence means. Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv commemorates heads of other churches in the way only primates of autocephalous churches do. Still,…

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Ukraine: A New Legal Framework for the UOC?
Inter-Orthodox Relations, Religion and Politics

Ukraine: A New Legal Framework for the UOC?

“We will never allow anyone to build an empire inside the Ukrainian soul,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, on December 1, 2022, stated in reference to the need to ensure the spiritual independence of the country. He signed the decree with measures to counter religious organizations and figures affiliated with the aggressor state: the Russian…

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Four Months Later:  The Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s New Modus Vivendi
Inter-Orthodox Relations, Orthodoxy and Modernity

Four Months Later:  The Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s New Modus Vivendi

Four months ago, a UOC (Ukrainian Orthodox Church) Council in the Feofaniya monastery in Kyiv introduced fundamental changes into the Church’s statutes. That Council has already become a historic event—with possible implications for world Orthodoxy. But properly understanding the logic of its decisions means understanding what happened in the UOC after the Russian army’s full-scale…

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Will Orthodoxy in Ukraine Miss a Chance?
Inter-Orthodox Relations

Will Orthodoxy in Ukraine Miss a Chance?

Image: iStock.com/Haidamac On May 27, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) declared its independence from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), of which it had until then been a branch. The reason is very clear: it disagrees with its (former) supreme hierarch, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, who has supported the Russian war against Ukraine. The UOC did…

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The Orthodox Church in Ukraine: War and “Another Autocephaly”
Inter-Orthodox Relations

The Orthodox Church in Ukraine: War and “Another Autocephaly”

War changes many things, primarily people’s minds, but also the usual flow of time. What takes years or even decades in peacetime takes a few months, or sometimes even days, during war.  On May 27, the Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the highest governing body of the church, after much debate, expressed its…

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Open Appeal of the Priests of the UOC-MP to the Primates of Local Orthodox Churches
Inter-Orthodox Relations, Orthodoxy and Modernity, Religion and Conflict

Open Appeal of the Priests of the UOC-MP to the Primates of Local Orthodox Churches

After Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, the question of the further existence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate became critical. Patriarch Kirill did not condemn the aggression and did not call the aggressor by name. He did not express any condolences to the families of the dead Ukrainians. Most of…

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Public Orthodoxy seeks to promote conversation by providing a forum for diverse perspectives on contemporary issues related to Orthodox Christianity. The positions expressed in the articles on this website are solely the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Orthodox Christian Studies Center.

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Public Orthodoxy is a publication of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University