Eastern European Studies Commons^™

Clergy Social Activity During War Conditions: The Case Of Western Regions Of Ukraine, Ihor Lutsan, Iryna Horokholinska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In this article, the authors analyze the impact of Russia-Ukraine war on church-religious life and the state of public consciousness in Ukraine and identify the main trends and contradictions in public reactions to threats to their lives and spirituality. The research focuses on religious communities of the western regions of Ukraine and their socially significant activities. The primary empirical source of the article was the study (by questionnaire survey) of the opinions of the clergy of this religious organization on the characteristics of parish life and the role of the pastor in the conditions of war. Three defining vectors that …

Frontmatter (Volume 42, Issue 2), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Scholarly Study Of Religion In Ukraine, Vita Tytarenko, Liudmyla Fylypovych, Larysa Vladychenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the specifics of religious studies of religious minorities (RM). This religious phenomenon needs a concrete applied methodology that would make it possible to study the RM in its entirety. It is proposed to rely on the materials, which, in this case were the materials of a sociological study conducted within the project "Religious Minorities of Ukraine and State-Religious Relations" (2021), carried out by the authors of the article. As a result, it was clarified which religious organizations should be attributed to the RM, and how they differ from the religions of the majority, who have specific needs …

Training Of Military Chaplains For The Armed Forces Of Ukraine In Conditions Of The Invasion By The Russian Federation, Bogdan Synchak, Petro Livak, Mykhailo Fedorenko

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the comprehensive training of military chaplains for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The legislative basis of chaplaincy, and the methods and state of its implementation are characterized. The problems that can befall a military chaplain are identified, in particular the contradiction in the combination of military service and pacifism. The development of chaplaincy in Ukraine is outlined. Active assistance to the chaplaincy began only after the Orange Revolution (2004-2005). The following year, a legislative act was made through the directive “On streamlining issues of meeting the religious needs of the military personnel of the Armed Forces of …

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.

Ukrainian Interfaith Families In The Context Of Church, Marriage, And Social Relations Of The 19th Century, Olena Borodenko, Roman Sitarchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The aim. In the article (based on the materials of church statistical books of Orthodox parishes in the Right and Left Bank of Ukraine, ego-documents, documentation of the directive and administrative direction, canonical and fiction), an imaginary collective portrait of interfaith families is created in the representation of marriage partners of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic faiths—in the context of marriage-social policy of the Russian Empire in the 19th century.

Research methods. The interdisciplinary direction of intelligence led to the use, in addition to general scientific methods, of special historical methods: quantitative, comparative, prosopographic and critical analysis.

Main results. Based …

Development And Changes In The Ergo Design Of Protestant Churches In Ukraine (1991-2021), Valentyna Kuryliak, Volodymyr Dudarets, Valeriy Bulatov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article presents the evolution of ergonomics and design of Protestant churches in Ukraine in the period from 1991-2021. Since Ukraine left the Soviet Union, the Soviet worldview of Ukrainian Protestants has gradually changed, which, in turn, influenced the formation of the subject-spatial environment and, in general, the ergo design of Protestant churches. The concept presented in the article is that ergo design is similar to a living organism, which changes under the influence of external factors, such as the emotional feeling of believers, political and economic changes, etc. This influence was especially evident during the transitional period on the …

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 …

Non-Religious Influence Of The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Of The Moscow Patriarchate On Ukrainian Society, Bogdan Synchak, Maksym Balaklytskyi, Volodymyr Dudarets

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The relevance of the study is provided by the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, more specifically, the hybrid nature of the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine since 2014. The use of information technologies along with military force, among other things, provides for the involvement of the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate as an additional tool for the spread of destructive ideological influence in Ukraine. Attention to the non-religious influence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) on Ukrainian society is being updated against the background of the ideological confrontation between the Russian and Ukrainian worldview systems in …

International Theological Conference “Orthodoxy And The ‘Russkii Mir’ (Russian World): The Threat To Orthodox Ecclesiology And The Ideological Basis Of Russian Neo-Imperialism, Vladyslav Fulmes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In connection with the full-scale military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which was largely based on the ideology of “Russian world,” on June 16, 2022, Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy (Lutsk, Ukraine) together with the educational platform “ETHOS / God Against War” (Kyiv, Ukraine) held an international theological conference “Orthodoxy and the “russkii mir” (Russian world): The Threat to Orthodox Ecclesiology and the Ideological Basis of Russian Neo-Imperialism.” Brief information about this international scientific conference is given.

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 …

Ukrainian Orthodox Education In Historical Retrospective, Andrii Shevchuk, Fedir Prodanyuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article reflects the historical background and challenges of the Orthodox Church in establishing religious education in the process of spreading Orthodox Christianity. From historical analysis, one can observe the evolution of not only Orthodox education, but also church teaching, which in turn increased the rates of literacy and education in the population. Because of the work in the dioceses, namely the opening of educational centers, schools, colleges, etc. the general level of education increased. However, with the historical collapse and tumultuous events of Ukraine's past, the success of the Orthodox Church in these efforts has varied significantly in different …

Frontmatter (Volume 42, Issue 4), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Holocaust In Slovakia: The Deportation Of 1942 Through The Prism Of Oral History, Peter Salner

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

On October 28, 1918, after the end of the Great War, Slovakia became part of the Czechoslovak Republic. Two decades later, on October 6, 1938, the country’s political leadership declared autonomy, and within a few months, on March 14, 1939, the Slovak National Assembly voted for the establishment of an independent state. Already during the period of autonomy, the government adopted anti-Jewish legislation (this trend would continue throughout the brief lifespan of the new state) aimed at gradually shutting Jews out of social and economic life. This state-sponsored persecution of the Jews culminated in mass deportations which began in 1942. …

Putin's Invasion Of Ukraine: What's Religion Got To Do With It?, Mark R. Elliot

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Summary

• As of February 24, 2022, as Russian air strikes, missiles, and tanks began pouring into an outmatched Ukraine, the Byzantine calculus of symphonia, of a mutually interdependent church and state, devolved into an unholy alliance joining at the hip a predatory Putin and a sycophantic Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kyrill.
• Especially over the past decade Patriarch Kyrill has tied the fate of his church to that of his patron Putin, the same tragic mistake made by the same church in its defense of tsarist Russia in its death throes.
• Since his accession in 2009, and emphatically since Russia’s moves against …

The Discursive Construction Of The Past: The 1686 Resubordination Of The Kyiv Metropolitanate, Ukrainian Autocephaly And The Conflict Of Moscow And Constantinople, Denys Shestopalets

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article focuses on the key historical aspect of the clash between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Constantinople Patriarchate in autumn 2018. It analyzes the conflicting representations of the re-subordination of the Kyiv Metropolitanate from the jurisdiction of Constantinople to the purview of Moscow in the second half of the 17th century. The study explores pivotal historical narratives and argumentative strategies employed by the two patriarchates (and, additionally, by the main ideologues of the Ukrainian autocephalist movement) for framing the events of 1686 and for shoring up their contemporary agendas with regards to the autocephalous status of the Orthodox Church …

The Restoration Of Church Orthodox Brotherhoods And Their Missionary Work In Right-Bank Ukraine, Ihor Opria, Oleksandr Fedkov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article examines the process of restoring Orthodox church brotherhoods in the 1860s on the territory of the Right-Bank Ukraine, defines the goals and objectives of these organizations, and analyzes the content and consequences of missionary and related educational and charitable work. The subjects of the research are the Orthodox church brotherhoods and their missionary work. The analysis of historiography is carried out and the need for further scientific research in the study of the topic is indicated. The role of brotherhoods in interfaith encounters is clarified, as are the methods aimed at combating Late Protestant confessions. Despite a certain …

Jenny Vorpahl And Dirk Schuster (Eds). Communicating Religion And Atheism In Central And Eastern Europe. (Book Review), Oleg Kyselov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Jenny Vorpahl and Dirk Schuster (eds). Communicating Religion and Atheism in Central and Eastern Europe. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020. 312 p. ISBN 978-3-11-054637-8 Hardcover $114.99.

Frontmatter (Volume 42, Issue 3), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Destructive Russian Orthodox Powerplay, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.