The Position of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine in the mid-1940s

The article analyzes the change in the position of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in Ukraine in the mid-1940s. The influence of the World War II on the change of religious policy in the USSR and the international activity of the ROC was clarified. The meeting of the Soviet leaders with the church hierarchs on September 4, 1943, the activities of the Council of Bishops on September 8, 1943 and the degree of implementation of their previous agreements and decisions were analyzed. The main directions of the state religious policy in the USSR and the achievements of the ROC in the mid-1940s were determined. The study traces the change in the position of the Orthodox clergy in the state and the factors contributing to developing the position of coexistence with the Soviet authorities in the church environment. Considerable attention was paid to the Local Council of the ROC in 1945 and the adoption of the “Regulations on managing the ROC”. The change of the internal life of the Church was analyzed in accordance with the document. It determined the increasing role of the clergy in managing parishes and the episcopate in managing the Church. The article emphasizes the ambiguity of the religious situation in Ukraine, in particular in the newly joined Ukrainian regions. Emphasis was placed on the problem of lack of educated clergy, which the ROC faced immediately after its legalization. In this context, attempts to solve the problem by restoring the activities of religious schools and expanding their network in Ukraine were studied. The conditions of study and requirements for future seminarians were highlighted. The evolution of the state’s attitude to religious education was investigated. Special attention was paid by the author to involving the ROC to the international and interreligious arena. In this context, the emergence of the confrontation between the Moscow Patriarchate and Vatican authorities was highlighted. The main tasks and directions of such confrontation wearer determined, an attempt was made to analyze the main measures implemented by the ROC on the way to transforming Moscow into a new world religious centre.

Source: Olitskyi V. (2021). The Position of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine in the mid-1940s. Consensus. (1): 31-41

Source web-site: https://konsensus.net.ua/index.php/konsensus/article/view/4/3