The Struggle for Saint Vladimir : Christianity and Nationalism in the Contest for the Ukrainian Autocephaly
Abstract
At the beginning of 2019, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) received autocephalous status from the Constantinople Patriarchate. However, this Church was formed mainly by two Ukrainian Orthodox Churches, which have not yet been recognized in Orthodoxy.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate, in concert with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), condemned the creation of the OCU. Thus, the division of Ukrainian Orthodoxy persists, only its form has been rearranged.
The emergence of the OCU also sparked a serious controversy throughout the world Orthodoxy. Other major "religious player" in Ukraine is the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which is not directly affected by the struggle for autocephaly, but indirectly most importantly affected.
Although it is subordinate to the Vatican, it shares both the form of the ceremony (liturgy) and the historical origin (to which it professes intensively) with the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches. The origin is derived from the Christianization of medieval Kievan Rus' by Prince Vladimir the Great in the late 10th century.
The controversy over the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy is a controversy within one branch of Christianity, although it also has a significant impact on the Greek Catholic, and hence the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, it is not a doctrinal conflict.
It primarily concerns issues of national identity and state sovereignty. After all, religion forms a significant part of Russian and Ukrainian historical or national narrative.
This book focuses on the long-term struggle for autocephalous status for the Ukrainian Orthodoxy, both its historical roots and current stakeholders, and on the links between religion and nationalism. Theoretically, it is based primarily on Rogers Brubaker's concept of "religion as overlapped or intertwined with nationalism".
However, particular forms of intertwining are modified by the author, given the nature of the case being researched. Identified forms of overlapping and intertwining appear to be essential, important to understanding the actions of major stakeholders.
The book highlights that the ideological basis of the conflict over the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy is a clash of historical-religious mythologies, which are an example of intertwining of religion and nationalism. They also have the potential to significantly shape not only the ecclesiastical or religious scene of Ukraine and the Russian Federation, but also the concept of national identity and value attitudes of inhabitants of both countries.
The loss of Ukraine can seriously weaken the ROC and jeopardize the validity of some of the historical-religious concepts underpinning the ROC. With implications for the international political position of the Russian Federation.
The strong confluence of Orthodoxy with a national or state identity (according to some even the "Babylonian captivity" of Orthodoxy in statism and nationalism) generally hinders the acceptance of the Orthodox version of Christianity by members of nations that lack a similar religious tradition. Thus, it hinders evangelization and prevents Orthodoxy from becoming a true global player in a global struggle of ideas.
In any case, the concept of the interconnection of religion and nationalism appears to be a promising topic for further research, definitely in Central and Eastern Europe where national and religious identities are often closely interconnected in many ways. The relationship between religion and conservative national and political values certainly deserves greater attention.