ARSEN RICHYNSKY «PROBLEMS OF UKRAINIAN RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS»: HISTORY AND MODERNITY

Abstract

The article analyzes the work of the famous socio-political, cultural and educational figure of the first half of the XX century, Arsen Richynsky, “Problems of Ukrainian religious consciousness”, through the prism of history and modernity, which has not lost its relevance today. In modern times, when the question of building the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in our country has arisen, interest in the spiritual heritage of Arsen Richynsky has grown. During the interwar period in Western Volhynia, A. Richynsky launched an active and purposeful cultural and educational activity in the struggle for the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, devoting to this work, which had a significant public resonance. The preconditions for its writing are clarified and it is emphasized that A. Richynsky, being an activist of the national church movement, realized that it was necessary to look for new strategies and tactics to intensify the revival of the Ukrainian church movement. He considered it necessary to ideologically “arm” the intellectual forces with ethno-confessional awareness of the history of Ukraine. He was struck by the unpreparedness of the intellectuals in matters of unity and solidarity in relation to the fight for the rights of Ukrainians to the national Orthodox Church, the formation of state ideology. The reasons for the ban on the book and the history of its publication are studied, and it is emphasized that the monograph was written from the standpoint of Ukrainian national ethnogenesis and focused on the revival and formation of the spiritual identity of Ukrainians. In fact, this was the main reason for its ban in both interwar Poland and the USSR. The scientific novelty of the publication is that, despite the rather significant creative legacy of A. Richynsky, the work “Problems of Ukrainian Religious Consciousness” has not lost its practical significance, but has not been analyzed or studied holistically and systematically by scholars. It should be noted that today there is a need to analyze it objectively and impartially, which will allow to reveal the process of writing and printing, to fully explore the biographical data of its author. Monograph of a famous socio-political and cultural-educational figure of the first half of the XX century. A. Richynsky’s “Problems of Ukrainian Religious Consciousness” is evidence that both the Polish and Soviet authorities persecuted its author for actively promoting the ideas of an independent Ukrainian state and independent Church in the interwar period, defending its autocephaly, and justifying the identity of Ukrainian law, that have not lost their relevance today.