The large-scale war that began on February 24, 2022, became a challenge for Ukrainian statehood. At the same time, it increased challenges for the mutual existence of various church jurisdictions in Ukraine. Separation lines were also drawn between representatives of various religions and denominations in Russia and Ukraine – among Muslims, Baptists, charismatics and others. In most cases, representatives of the same denomination or religion, living on different sides of the Russian-Ukrainian border, took the side of their own state in their interpretations of the war.
In this situation, the position of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church became particularly problematic – its affiliation to the Moscow Patriarchate became a reason for inspections, condemnation, and recently for seeking its legislative ban in Ukraine. Therefore, active lay people belonging to this Church created a platform for seeking understanding. The desire for dialogue at different levels and with different participants in the process gave the name to this project – “Dialogue here” (https://www.dialogtut.org/).
During the year, the editorial team of the project cooperated with Sergii Bortnyk four times – interviewing him and inviting him to express his position on difficult topics of the inter-church reconciliation. Here you can find the mentioned materials in Ukrainian.
- August 18, 2022 – “Why the UOC and OCU cannot be united” («Чому УПЦ і ПЦУ не можуть об’єднатися») https://www.dialogtut.org/chomu-upcz-i-pczu-ne-mozhut-obyednatysya/
- February 21, 2023 – “At the meeting in Sofia, I saw other moods”, – Sergii Bortnyk about the dialogue between the UOC and the OCU («На зустрічі в Софії я побачив інші настрої», — Сергій Бортник про діалог УПЦ та ПЦУ) https://www.dialogtut.org/na-zustrichi-v-sofiyi-ya-pobachyv-inshi-nastroyi-sergij-bortnyk-pro-dialog-upcz-ta-pczu/
- May 22, 2023 – “What is Ukraine doing wrong in the church sphere?” («Що Україна робить не так на церковному полі?») https://www.dialogtut.org/shho-ukrayina-robyt-ne-tak-na-czerkovnomu-poli/
- July 26, 2023 – “Ukrainian Church under attacks of Russian aggression” («Українська Церква під ударами російської агресії») https://www.dialogtut.org/pidhodyt-chas-vyznachnyh-zmin-u-doli-upcz/
The parties plan to deepen their cooperation, which should bear fruits in form of further publications and mutual assistance.