The ≪Ukrainian question≫ in the relations between Constantinople and Moscow at the beginning of the 21st century

• Main Author: Anastasia Chibisova
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: St. Tikhon's Orthodox University 2014-10-01
• Series: Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия
• Subjects: Patriarchate of Constantinople; Patriarchate of Moscow; Phanar; Chambésy; Ukrainian question; Estonian crisis; Ukrainian Orthodox Church; Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church; Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Kiev; Bartholomew I; Alexi II; Kirill (Gun dyayev); Filaret (Denysenko); L. Kuchma; V. Yushchenko; Panorthodox Council
• Online Access: http://pstgu.ru/download/1414761546.1chibisova.pdf

The article is devoted to an important problem in the relations between the Patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople at the beginning of the 21st century. The author provides a complex analysis of the infl uence exercised by the ecclesiastical crisis in the Ukraine on the relations between Moscow, Phanar and Kiev. Special attention is paid to the activities of non-recognized Ukrainian ecclesiastical structures and their attempts to join the Orthodox world by way of obtaining recognition on the part of the Church of Constantinople. Their frequent joint meetings held at Phanar proved fruitless; however, they were quite illustrative as to the double standards of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in its policies towards the ecclesiastical schisms in the Ukraine. An important role here,according to the author, was played by the Ukrainian civil authorities, although the relations between Church and state as well as the events of the internal ecclesiastical life in the Ukraine (such as the attempted dialogue between the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Kiev) are left outside the framework of the present research; facts concerning these areas are cited only when they contribute to the understanding of the processes under analysis. Proceeding from the data of Russian and Ukrainian ecclesiastical periodicals, the author maintains that the problem of the religious life in the Ukraine has long ago overstepped the boundaries of a “local confl ict” and that the “Ukrainian question” plays the part of a powerful catalyst in the inter-Orthodox relations. The Patriarchate of Moscow aims at preserving its status in the Orthodox world. As for the Patriarchate of Constantinople, it keeps voicing certain claims at strengthening its position as primus inter pares among the Orthodox Patriarchates, dreams about convening a new “Ecumenical Council” and puts the Ukraine at stake in its relations with Moscow.