The role of spokesmen in the social communications of the orthodox and greek-catholic of the modern Ukraine

Abstract

The article analyzes the media space in which Orthodox and Greek-Catholic denominations are represented by the figures of their spokesmen. Speaking in religious organizations is a specific form of social communication, since the priority is kerigma, which is a missionary sermon. The main purpose of the article is to outline the role of these figures in social communications through the analysis of the nodes of the leading speakers of the Orthodox and Greek-Catholic denominations. Methodology. The realization of the purpose and tasks of the article led to the application of empirical and theoretical methods. In particular, observation as an empirical method is used to distinguish the figures of leading spokesmen, their nodal media messages. The comparative method is used to investigate the communication discourse of each church in the person of their spokesmen. The theoretical methods of the research (analysis and synthesis) allow to go deeper into the communication field of the discourses. Considering the separate vectors of communication between the church and the society, we use the theory of discourse E. Laclau and Ch. Mouffe, which is based on the struggle of discourses, as well as the theory of Maxwell McCombs' media, that the role of themedia shows through an analysis of their actions and social consequences. The research is based on the following objectives: to analyze the public opinion about the leading denominational spokesmen; to determine the role, played by the spokesmen in generating a dialogue between the church and the society; find out the basic conceptual messages that articulate the spokesmen; to analyze the main themes of the communication dialogue, and through them the positioning of these churches in the media space. The scientific novelty of the research in identifying the role of the spokesmen of the Orthodox and Greek-Catholic denominations through their fundamental messages in social communications. This allows us to conclude that during the period of Ukraine's independence from its confessional space distinguished authoritative spokesmen, who provide the effective social communications for their churches. The orthodox environment is represented by a number of figures of spokesmen, who articulate and symbolize certain strategic vectors of the development of denominations. In particular, the UOC-KP acts as a national church, actively proclaiming the necessity for Ukraine of the single Local Orthodox Church. Patriarch Filaret appears in the public consciousness as a nationwide religious leader. The press secretary of the UOC-KP Yevstratii Zorya is actively exposing the policy of the world, reporting through the European structures to the world community of the Ukrainian position on the religious aspects of hostilities. The UOC-MP environment is segmented into two opposing camps: pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian. Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) and Georgiy Kovalenko as leading spokesmen of the denomination demonstrate the position of autonomy from the Russian Orthodox Church, developing it as a Ukrainian church, which seeks for some kind of modernization. At the same time, Metropolitan Onufriy (Berezovskyi) represents a conservative and pro-Russian vector of the development of the UOC-MP in the paradigm of the world.The Greek-Catholics in the information space of Ukraine are represented by the figures of their spokesmen, Cardinal Liubomyr Husar and Supreme Archbishop Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) who, due to their thorough education, spiritual and church experience, active civic stance, openness, are leaders in opinions not only for the Greek-Catholic audience, but also for all-Ukrainian