On March 29, 2024, members of the NGO Sophia Brotherhood attended the All-Ukrainian Scientific and Practical Conference “The Current State of Orthodoxy in Ukraine: Challenges, Issues, and Outlook”.
The event was held at the Educational and Research Institute of Philosophy and Educational Policy of the Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State Institute in collaboration with the Religious Studies Department of the H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
The first part of the conference featured presentations by Professor Viktor Bondarenko, Head of the Theology and Religious Studies Department of the Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University, Professor Oleksandr Sagan, Head of the Religious Studies Department of the H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and Professor Yurii Chornomorets, Doctor of Philosophy in Theology at the Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy, Archpriest Andrii Dudchenko, Master of Theology, medical chaplain, doctor Polina Dudchenko, and Yurii Kovalenko, Rector of the Open Orthodox University of St. Sophia the Wise.
In particular, the discussion raised the issue of developing the Sophia Brotherhood. The academic community pointed out that the organization should begin the process of establishing regional branches in order to increase the effectiveness of the Sophia Brotherhood.
A separate discussion was held on the relevance of Draft Law 8371, which was found to be deficient and imperfect due to a weak conceptual framework. According to the scholars, if adopted in the current version, the draft law will strike a crushing blow to Ukraine’s authority in the international arena.
The second part of the event featured presentations by Bishop Photii (Davydenko) of Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol at the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Liudmyla Fylypovych, professor and leading researcher at the H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Serhii Prysukhin, associate professor of the Theology Department of the Kyiv Orthodox Theological Academy, Archpriest Serhii Prokopchuk, director of the Sophia Brotherhood office, and Hanna Kulahina-Stadnychenko, senior researcher at the Religious Studies Department of the H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
The discussion led the academic community to the general conclusion that Ukraine’s Orthodox community is facing a communication problem, which is evident not only within the country but also abroad, and which creates obstacles for representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora and refugees.
Following the event, upon the suggestion of Metropolitan Oleksandr (Drabynko) of Pereiaslav and Vyshneve, the conference participants will issue a joint statement on the problematic areas of Ukrainian Orthodoxy raised during the conference.
