Sociocultural activity of the UGCC at the current stage in Ukraine: religious and philosophical view

Abstract

The article presents the religious-philosophical perspective of the socio-cultural activity of the UGCC. The religious factor plays a visible role in the state-forming processes of Ukraine during the modern period. The social sphere and culture of Ukraine is an environment in which traditional religious organizations often realize their abilities, and at the same time demonstrate their own civic position. Thematic forums and projects claim that the church can be a worthy state's partner by organizing the socio-cultural life of the society. The purpose of the study: religious-philosophical analysis of the role of the UGCC in the socio-cultural sphere at the present stage. The methodological basis of the research is a systematic approach to the study of socio-cultural activities of the UGCC at the present stage, an interpretive research paradigm, a descriptive method, an interdisciplinary analysis, and a methodological approach to everyday analytics. The information base of this study were scientific publications of religious studies scholars, theologians, historians, cultural scientists, as well as the dissertation abstracts, documents and materials of theological period, which were presented on the official websites of the UGCC. The article covers the religious and philosophical view of the sociocultural activity of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC). It is determined that the models of social and culture-generating activity of the UGCC are established as early as in the period of Andrey Sheptytsky's archpastorate; a powerful experience of socio-cultural church work was also formed at the times of the underground, at the beginning of Ukraine's acquisition of its inependence, during the periods of patriarchal leadership of cardinals Myroslav Lyubachivsky and Lyubomyr Huzar. In the current publication, the modern phase of socio-cultural activity of the UGCC we tie to the beginning of Svyatoslav Shevchuk's patriarchship. It is researched that at this stage, the UGCC in large part employs the possibilities of modern digital technologies for the spread of Christian doctrine, presentation and popularisation of its activity. The participation of Greek Catholic clergy and laypeople in social and cultural spheres takes place simultaneously, they complement one another. The UGCC pays much attention to offering social aid to vulnerable categories of the population (orphans, lonely people of advanced age, etc.), strengthening the family institution, family values; develops chaplaincy; realises potential capabilities of clergy and laypeople in such areas of culture as education, literature, various kinds of art, theatre, media. A powerful contribution by the UGCC both at the beginning of the 20th century and in the modern era has been in the development of Ukrainian-language environment in the field of liturgical and ceremonial practice, and also in vectors of activity expanded upon in the current research. The prospects for studying this problem will be studying of the experiences of the UGCC regarding spiritual and social support of Ukrainian society during the war, the development of social and cultural initiatives in the post-war period using the experience of many cells (archdiocese, dioceses, monastic congregations, parishes).