Church and Parish Life in the DPR/LPR in the Period 2014–2022: On the Materials of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate

10.33876/2311-0546/2024-4/190-204

Abstract

In the article, the authors analyzed the circumstances surrounding the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate between the years 2014 and 2022. The following issues were considered: the evolution of the position of the UOC MP regarding the assessment of the conflict; the theological and material problems associated with this position and the internal context in which parishes and priests in DPR and LPR operated. The lower chronological frame is due to the beginning of the military conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014, and the upper one is due to February 2022, which marked the beginning of a special operation in Ukraine and the entry of the DPR and LPR into the Russian Federation. The range of sources is represented by materials in the public sphere, including official documents of the UOC MP, news reports and statements of the UOC MP published on the relevant representative websites, sermons and interviews, comments, blog and forum entries, the legal framework of the DPR/LPR. From 2014 to 2022 the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate adopted a stance of neutrality towards the parties to the conflict, officially claiming to be outside the conflict. The available evidence indicates, however, that the clergy members who found themselves on the territory of the DPR/LPR collaborated with the authorities of the republics despite the official neutrality of the UOC MP. This collaboration was not motivated by negative sentiments or financial gain, but took the form of cooperation aimed at establishing a new shared space and fostering new meanings. Thus, religion was regarded as a crucial state-forming pillar, with the objective of social organization.