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CELEBRATION OF THE 1,020 ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACCEPTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY BY KYIVAN RUS
VADIM KARASYOV,
Director of the Institute of Global Strategies, Kyiv
We should not discuss the theology issues and the relations within the Orthodox Church. We should discuss the celebration of the 1,020th anniversary of the acceptance of Christianity by Rus where there was a complicated political intrigue.
For Viktor Yushchenko the issues of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy are connected not only with the Russian-Ukrainian relations, but also with the Ukrainian national project, the formation of the Ukrainian identity. So, any his initiative fits in with this project.
If we are talking about the sphere controlled by the Russian Orthodox Church, which relies on the might of the Russian state, the question arises as to where Ukraine is here. For Ukraine those conditions are not competitive as all the religious sphere will work for Moscow.
As regards the celebration, it yielded no serious results, but there are tendencies. The first one is that the struggle for the Orthodox Ukrainians is being more hard-fought. I do not think this will intensify the schism within the Ukrainian Orthodoxy; in fact it has already been split. In a sense, it may favor the establishment of the single national local church and, therefore, promote the confessional church unification in Ukraine.
The second tendency is that the struggle for the Byzantine legacy is getting more intense. The Russian Orthodoxy claims to succeed to that of Byzantine Empire. Now Kyiv, which is driven by the politicians interested in a new Orthodox church in Ukraine, joins the struggle. Kyiv draws Patriarch Bartholomew I into the game and pins its hopes on Constantinople.
The third tendency is that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate will continue to become autonomous. It will take advantage of the conflict between Moscow and Constantinople. This will further the creation of the single local church.
The fourth tendency is that I believe the Ukrainian policy-makers and churchmen will aspire to a kind of Ukrainian-European Orthodoxy with the center in Kyiv to counterbalance the Russian Orthodoxy.
The Ukrainian authorities including President Viktor Yushchenko consider the creation of the local church to be the laying down of the spiritual and cultural foundations of the Ukrainian identity and Orthodox nation.
If to sum up the anniversary celebrations, there is a need to say that Yushchenko showed the inclination to play a long-term political game in order to complete his project.
The bottom line is now the religious and political agenda in Ukraine is being generated and formed by the President. I think this will be one of the key issues in the 2009-10 presidential campaign.
The church is of importance to the nation building process. Either something will come out of it, or Ukraine will hesitate between the West and Russia and will be able to lay claim to nothing. That’s why the creation of the autonomous national local church is Ukriane’s chance to become a sovereign state and an independent actor of the international relations.
The material is based on Vadim Karasyov’s address to the round table “Summing up the celebration of the 1,020th anniversary of the acceptance of Christianity by Rus” during the Moscow-Kyiv television space bridge that was organized by the Russian Agency of International Information RIA Novosti on July 29.
August 4, 2008
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