The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Facing the Challenge of War (February – May 2022)
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Facing the Challenge of War (February – May 2022)

Summary/Abstract: This paper reviews the processes that took place in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in February–May 2022. The author provides an overview of the state of the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine on the eve of the full-scale Russian invasion. He shows that after February 2022, the UOC leadership took a consistent patriotic position, condemning the Russian aggression. In contrast, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow fully supported the war, causing massive indignation among the UOC clergy and giving rise to the “Non-Commemorator Movement” (refusal to commemorate Patriarch Kirill during divine services). Several UOC dioceses issued calls for a complete separation of the UOC from the Patriarchate of Moscow, with some clergy even calling for bringing Patriarch Kirill to ecclesiastical justice. The beginning of the war also caused a significant worsening of the UOC’s relations with the Ukrainian state. Local governments started taking decisions to ban the activities of UOC communities. On May 27, 2022, a Council of the UOC was held in Kyiv. It made fundamental amendments to the UOC Charter and, in fact, broke off relations with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). However, the Council’s decisions were met with a mixed response in Ukraine. Discussion of the UOC’s new canonical status is ongoing.

• Details
• Contents