СОЦІАЛЬНА ЗНАЧУЩА ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ РЕЛІГІЙНИХ ГРОМАД УГКЦ В УКРАЇНІ ПЕРІОДУ НЕЗАЛЕЖНОСТІ

Abstract

This research is devoted to the issues of socially significant activities carried out by religious communities belonging to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine during the period of independence. In the course of the research, using official web portals and other publicly covered resources, the factual material was analyzed and theoretical generalizations were subjected to philosophical and religious reflection, which allowed determining the following: the intensity of social activities carried out by the religious communities of the Catholic Church in Ukraine during the period of independence is caused by external processes of democratization and general spiritual renewal of society; the integrative intentions that declare the cooperation of Catholics with public structures are emphasized, postulating the idea that activities are a kind of service that leads to a certain interpenetration of Christian values in society, creating a special dialogue between believers and people of the secular worldview. Thus, openness and empathy with social problems, joint search for solutions to social issues, and the introduction of the idea of the dominance of Christian landmarks by members of the Catholic community creates conditions for finding options for positive reconstruction of the domestic social space; the functional competence and coordinated structure of the work of Catholic religious communities are noted, as well as real examples of the priority of religious freedom and interfaith tolerance are indicated; the multi-vector nature of the work carried out during the implementation of various social projects in the charitable, educational, cultural, publishing, medical, publishing, and military spheres is highlighted; it was found that the activities of representatives of the Catholic religious communities in the social sector are largely based on certain work strategies that appeal to theoretical postulates, socially-oriented documents of the Catholic Church, and, accordingly, formalized in special guidelines. In general, the article is based on the general provisions declared by the official position of the Catholic Church on social policy and outlines the areas in which the religious communities of the UGCC develop social activities in Ukraine since independence.