WARSAW COUNCIL OF THE UKRAINIAN AUTOCEPHALOUS ORTHODOX CHURCH OF 1944 AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to cover the causes, course and consequences of the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) in 1944 on the basis of the source base and historiographical work. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of historicism, systematization, scientificity, verification, authorial objectivity, moderate narrative constructivism, as well as the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special historical (historical genetic, historical typological, historical systemic) methods. The scientific novelty of the obtained results is determined by the fact that for the first time in domestic and foreign historiography the key decisions of the UAOC Council of 1944 were analyzed, as well as the unpublished archival documents and materials, which were introduced into the scientific circulation. The Conclusions. Nine hierarchs took part in the work of the Warsaw Council of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which established the Synod and adopted the Provisional Regulations on the Administration of the Church. The complexity of the Orthodox hierarchy position in exile was exacerbated by several objective circumstances. First of all, the external factors were unfavorable, which related to the German government. The UAOC episcopate in exile did not allow anybody to organize the Orthodox Ukrainians’ church life, concentrated the clergy in one place artificially and forced inaction for more than a year and a half. According to documents, the German officials supported it in the struggle for leadership in the UAOC. Second of all, the Orthodox bishops’ low level of education, who were often secular or inexperienced priests, was noticeable. Furthermore, there were diverse reasons, for example, constant internal disputes, different visions of the Church development ways outside Ukraine, interpersonal conflicts that provoked future divisions in the Ukrainian Orthodoxy in the diaspora. Third of all, the Warsaw Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in 1944 limited itself to the half-hearted decisions on its canonical status and postponed its settlement until the end of the war.

Keywords: Orthodox Church, autocephaly, Council of Bishops, hierarchy.