Faith and Fissures: The Contested Independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

The vast majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox. As recently as 2020, 14% percent considered themselves part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which has a distinct Ukrainian identity but historical ties to the Russian Orthodox Church. Given the notorious role of Patriarch Cyril in justifying the war, the UOC cut ties with Moscow and declared independence after the start of the full-scale invasion. Two years on, criticism of the church has not died down, and the Ukrainian parliament is considering taking political measures against it. Why do many in Ukraine still see the UOC as a threat, and what do believers and active parishioners think of their church and its clergy? Regina Elsner and Andriy Fert give us an overview of the OUC and its place in Ukrainian society.

Music: “Complete” by Modul is licensed under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0-License.

Speakers:

Andriy Fert (UNET Fellow at ZOiS): https://www.zois-berlin.de/en/about-us/staff/andriy-fert

Regina Elsner (University of Münster): https://www.uni-muenster.de/FB2/personen/oekumene/abt2/elsner.html

Host: Stefanie Orphal (ZOiS): https://www.zois-berlin.de/en/about-us/staff/dr-stefanie-orphal

Further Reading:

Andry Fert: Between Scylla and Charybdis: The Ukrainian Orthodox Parish During the War: https://talkabout.iclrs.org/2023/02/24/between-scylla-and-charybdis/

Interview with Regina Elsner: https://ukrainian-studies.ca/2024/04/30/interview-with-regina-elsner-ukraine-has-a-historical-tradition-of-religious-plurality-and-tolerance/

Interview with Dmytro Vovk about the legal issues: https://ukrainian-studies.ca/2024/03/16/interview-with-dmytro-vovk-ukrianes-church-state-relationship-may-be-changed-significantly/

More articles on the topic: https://talkabout.iclrs.org/tag/ukrainian-orthodox-church/