Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ukraine: Experience Of War, Natalia Ishchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The May issue of OPREE is being published during the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people to the massive invasion of Putin’s Russian army. The unjust war of aggression launched by Russia in 2014 has been going on for more than eight years. But three months ago, the destructive leader of our neighboring state to the east wished a great victory over Ukraine. This prompted a major slaughter between the two nations."

An Appeal Of Covenant, Mustafa Ceric

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti Emeritus of Bosnia, calls on Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious leaders in Russia to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Appeal Of The Representatives Of Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Educational Institutions Regarding The War Of The Russian Federation Against Ukraine, Oleksandr Geychenko, Roman Soloviy, Taras Dyatlik, Olga Dyatlik, Ivan Rusyn, Valentyn Siniy, Kseniia Trofymchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Statement of the “Evangelische Bildungseinrichtungen der Ukraine“ 20 April 2022.

"As the next phase of Russia-Ukraine war began with the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, we, the representatives of Ukrainian evangelical theological educational institutions, have witnessed massive war crimes, including numerous acts of violence, irrational cruelty, and inhuman treatment of civilians, destruction of cities, executions of peaceful civilians, rapes, pillaging, and plundering."

Russia’S War In Ukraine And The Limits Of Religious Diplomacy, Ina Merdjanova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The ongoing international efforts to put an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine have exposed the limits of faith-based diplomacy. This is particularly true when church and state embrace each other in a symbiotic alliance, in order to pursue their respective hegemonic ambitions."

Reconciliation Attempts And The Return To Conflict In The Balkans, 2010-2022 (And Parallels To The Russian War On Ukraine), Vjekoslav Perica

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"Hopefully there will be soon peace in Ukraine, and another attempt at reconciliation in Western Balkans. Even as mostly symbolic and commemorative practices, these endeavors proved that they improve social trust and reduce interethnic tensions. There still remains the question about the purpose and long-term goals of such reconciliation efforts. In my 2021 book, Reconciliation and Last Days, published in Belgrade, Serbia, I argue that postwar reconciliation projects make sense, provided there is a new beginning for wartime enemies, that is, the peoples, faiths, and states in the region. In other words, the purpose of a longer period of peace …

Ukrainian Clergy From The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Uoc) Want Patriarch Kirill To Appear Before An Ecclesiastical Court

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"More than 400 clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), who belong to the Moscow Patriarchate, have signed a call, to put Patriarch Kirill before an Ecclesiastical Court. What they have in mind is a gathering of the leaders of the ancient eastern churches, also the heads of the Orthodox churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The heads of the ancient Patriarchates, during church history had exercised numerous times the function of a supreme ecclesiastical court for Orthodoxy."

Translated by Walter Sawatsky

Best Practices In Protestant Aid For Ukrainian Refugees: 2022, Mark R. Elliott

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, dramatically accelerated Moscow’s military campaign against its southwestern neighbor which had begun in 2014. This unprovoked invasion managed to generate an equally dramatic displacement of Ukrainian civilians, some 13.5 million and counting.

"Paradoxically, the humanitarian response has been both phenomenal and inadequate. It has been phenomenal in its prodigious marshalling of resources and in its determination to alleviate enormous human suffering, calling forth impulses of generosity on a massive scale on the part of the UN, the EU, numerous individual European and North American governments, businesses, foundations, relief and development …

Nato And The Swedish Churches: Dealing With Defence Policy In The Midst Of A European Crisis, Erik Sidenvall

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "Just like the rest of the population, Swedish Christians remain fundamentally divided in their opinions about the best way to arrange Sweden’s relationship to NATO. But the responses on the part of the churches also seem to hark back to bygone ages. National defense and foreign policy remain, in a country for centuries fundamentally shaped by Lutheran doctrine concerning the division between faith and politics, a matter for the political realm. A tense and potentially threatening geopolitical situation tends to reinforce long cherished views."

Editorial: Blending Of Delusions In Russia Rationalizing Its War To Annex Ukraine, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

While it is obvious that Russia’s motives for the unprovoked brutal war against Ukraine are complex, what is not quickly apparent is the incendiary intermingling of a collective delusion of persecution and the delusion of grandeur of an individual.

Destructive Russian Orthodox Powerplay, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Development Of The Ukrainian Orthodoxy In The Conditions Of The Revanchist Policy Of The Russian Federation Against Ukraine, Yuriy Figurnyi, Oksana Semenova, Liubov Otroshko, Оlнa Shakurova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the development of Ukrainian Orthodoxy in the context of the revenge policy of Russia against Ukraine at the turn of the 21st century. It is discovered that almost a quarter of a century of inactivity of the Ukrainian authorities and active anti-Ukrainian and anti-state actions of the Russian Orthodox Church and its Little-Russian branch the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate contributed to their introduction into the Ukrainian humanitarian space of fundamental ideas, dogmas, and postulates of the “Russian World,” which subsequently led to the occupation by Russia of Crimea and parts of Donbas and the …

Reasons For The Rupture Of The Ukrainian Orthodox Church With The Moscow Patriarchate Against The Backdrop Of The War In Ukraine 2022, Valentyna Kuryliak, Bogdan Synchak

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The object of the study is provided by the conflict of interests of the Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-(MP) against the backdrop of the 2022 full-scale Russian war against Ukraine. The article considers the impact of new legislative initiatives aimed at minimizing the destructive Russian influence, including on the religious area. The main content and contradictions of certain points of the Decree of the Council of the UOC (MP) dated May 27, 2022, as a result of which the religious denomination declared independence from the Moscow Patriarchate, are analyzed. The main reasons for …