Changes in the Religious Situation in Ukraine (1985—2019): Ethnocultural Implications

Abstract

In the process of disintegration of the Soviet Union and development of the independent Ukrainian State (1985–2019), the Ukrainian Orthodoxy underwent radical changes, which influenced the ethnocultural development of the Ukrainian society. Accession of Kyiv Metropolia by Moscow was abolished and its previous status restored. The Unification Council established the Local Orthodox Church, which was later granted tomos of Autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The topical tasks of the Church consist in its recognition by other Orthodox churches and its engagement in the unification process of Orthodox parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate. The intensity of further differentiation depends largely on the new government of Ukraine. For modern Ukrainian society, the main ethnocultural consequences of changes in the religious situation are as follows: 1) the appearance of Ukrainian national religious organizations; 2) the full-fledged functioning of the Ukrainian language in the religious life; 3) the revival of rituals and traditions associated with the religious life that were banned in the USSR or forgotten; 4) formation of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church on the basis of Kyiv Metropolia and its acquisition of the highest canonical status in Ukraine. Changes that took place in the religious sphere contributed to the reverse Ukrainization of the Ukrainian ethnos after the long process of Russification, as well as to the political and ethnocultural consolidation of the Ukrainian nation. The impact of these changes on the modern ethnocultural development of the Ukrainian society, which took place from the mid-1980s till today, should be considered positive and corresponding to the national interests of Ukraine. These shifts in the religious situation contribute to the process of overcoming consequences of the religious, political, economic, and ethnocultural domination of Moscow in Ukraine.