When on 6 January 2019, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) finally received the Tomos of autocephaly from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, securing a legitimate independence from Moscow, it faced many challenges. Internal unity was a...
Father Cyril, what do you think about the OCU’s development after its formation? I am optimistic and believe that everything that is happening has positive dynamics. If we consider these developments from a more distant perspective, then...
Many of Vladimir Putin’s supporters only ten days ago were expressing concern that he had not launched his campaign with the kind of speeches that would mobilize the population around his plans for the next six years. But such people may...
The war is well into its fourth year, but the law on military chaplaincy has yet to be approved. On the other hand, the law on prison chaplains has been signed by the president. Why? I don’t understand the nuances in prison chaplaincy....
One of the gravest dangers — and potentially most serious defeats –any country combating an authoritarian aggressor is that in the name of defending itself against aggression, it will take steps that will make it resemble in...
The Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church routinely says that it has more parishes in Ukraine than does the Kyiv Patriarchate, a statement that it true but that ignores the fact that it has far fewer followers and parishioners...
Faced with a rising tide of parishes in Ukraine whose members have voted to transfer their allegiance to the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Moscow Patriarchate has issued rules specifying that parishes cannot change from one hierarchy to another...
Foreigners visiting Ukraine around the winter holidays are likely to be stumped by the phrase “Old New Year.” The holiday is still celebrated on January 14, in memory of the switch Ukraine made in 1918 to the Gregorian...
Fundamental human rights in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine are being violated for over 2.5 years now. The Russian-backed separatists have systematically exploited the religious factor, trying to reinforce their imposed governance and...
Two weeks ago, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a decree calling for the commemoration in his country of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in order to call attention to and reaffirm “the enormous contribution of...
“We still do not know what they did to the Jews. Terrifying rumors are heard from the Lukianivske cemetery. But they still cannot be trusted. They say that the Jews are being shot. Those escorting them to the point where they were...
