Abstract
After the Parliament of Ukraine adopted in August 2024 the Law 3894-IX, which creates conditions to ban legal functioning of the structural units of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the largest religious denomination in Ukraine, it became clear that the Ukrainian authorities have aimed at the removal of the UOC from the Ukrainian religious space. This paper is devoted to the analysis of factors that contributed to the adoption of this law, with a special focus on the post-Maidan (2014) developments. The Ukrainian authorities, leaning towards the nation-state policies, were taking steps to marginalise the UOC, which they regarded as a ‘non-patriotic’ Church. These attempts intensified after the Church declined to participate in the Poroshenko-led process of the creation of the ‘united’ and ‘independent’ Orthodox Church, eventually established in December 2018 under the name of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). However, it was the full-scale Russia-Ukraine war (since 2022) that became the most significant factor contributing to the decisive actions of the authorities against the UOC, in spite of the fact that this Church has fully supported Ukraine and its Armed Forces. The recent developments in the Ukrainian religious sphere have further deepened the inter-Orthodox divisions in this country.
Presenters
Sergei MudrovVisiting Researcher, Institute of Slavic Studies (Polish Academy of Sciences), Poland
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Orthodox Church, Russia-Ukraine War, Nation-State Policies
