Interdenominational Dialogue in Contemporary Ukraine: Correction in War and Pandemic Conditions
Abstract
The article analyzes the current state of interreligious communication in Ukraine and proves the need to correct interfaith dialogue during the war in Eastern Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors identify objective and subjective reasons for dialogue and recognize relevant issues (the lack of a joint denominational position on the need for dialogue), and new threats (the war and the pandemic) for establishing tolerant relations between religious organizations in Ukraine. Natural and socio-political catastrophes only expose problems that were not solved in peacetime. Preserving past achievements in interfaith communication is extremely important for creating new dialogue platforms. The existing dialogue platforms have been created spontaneously over a long time, and they have started to grow into a certain network only in recent decades. The authors summarize the real experience of interreligious dialogue and identify five types of dialogue platforms; and they formulate a conceptual framework for dialogue that includes attention to its purpose, topics, language, methodological approaches, criteria for the rules of its conduct, and the subjects invited to the dialogue. They make recommendations to ensure the success of interreligious dialogue in Ukraine under the current circumstances of the war and the pandemic.
Recommended Citation
Fylypovych, Liudmyla and Horkusha, Oksana (2020) "Interdenominational Dialogue in Contemporary Ukraine: Correction in War and Pandemic Conditions," Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 40 : Iss. 5 , Article 4.
