Cyril Hovorun, Kyiv-Mohyla Humanities Journal 7 (2020): 1–25, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
Abstract
A series of conflicts that followed the collapse of the Soviet
Union culminated in the war in Ukraine waged by Russia in 2014. The
international community was taken by surprise, and its reactions to the
Russian aggression were often confused and inadequate. Even more
confused and inadequate were the responses from global Christianity.
Russian propaganda often renders the aggression against Ukraine as a
quasi-religious conflict: a “holy war” against the “godless” or
“heterodox” West. It would be natural, therefore, for the Christian
churches worldwide to loudly condemn both propaganda and aggression.
However, in most cases, their response was silence. Such reactions came
from most local Orthodox churches, the Roman Catholic church, and
international ecumenical organizations such as the World Council of
Churches. An exception was the reaction from the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, which decided to grant autocephaly to the Orthodox Church
of Ukraine. The article argues that the Tomos for autocephaly was, among
other reasons, a reaction to the war in Ukraine. The responses of other
local Orthodox churches to the Tomos also indicate their attitude to
the war in Ukraine. These reactions have demonstrated a profound crisis
in inter-Orthodox solidarity and social ethics.
Keywords
war; church diplomacy; Tomos; autocephaly; the Ecumenical Patriarchate; the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
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