Софійське Братство – громадська організація
We have compiled a collection of texts—publications, presentations, and articles—written and delivered between April and October 2025 as part of the project “Modern Ukrainian Orthodoxy: Debunking Myths for the Sake of Reconciliation among Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and the Consolidation of Ukrainian Society.”
Fragment of the presentation “The Ecosystem Approach as a Methodology for Shaping a Shared Proper and Dignified Future: the Place and Role of the Church,”
When Patriarch Kirill speaks about a “civilizational choice” and the “awakening of the consciousness of Historical Rus’,” he is, in fact, referring not to spirituality but to geopolitical metaphysics — an attempt to justify empire through theology.
The first statement of Christ is: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars…” Since I wrote a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, I delved into the meaning of this text.
The presentation was delivered on September 17, 2025, at the Round Table “From Dispelling Myths to the Search for the Common Good: Contemporary Dialogical Initiatives
The presentation was delivered on September 17, 2025, at the Round Table “From Dispelling Myths to the Search for the Common Good: Contemporary Dialogical Initiatives
The material was created within the mini-project “Thinking Out Loud” for the joint project of the Sophienbruderschaft and the German foundation Renovabis, “Modern Ukrainian Orthodoxy:
The phrase of the rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy, His Grace Archbishop Sylvester Stoichev, about the “de facto autocephaly of the UOC”, which he voiced in a podcast in Vinnytsia, stirred almost the entire ortho-segment of the Ukrainian internet. There was a sea of debates, with even more remarks and comments.
The article was written within the framework of the joint project of the Sophienbruderschaft and the German foundation Renovabis, “Modern Ukrainian Orthodoxy: Debunking Myths for
I would like to sum up, to some extent, the work carried out by the Sophia Brotherhood over the past six months, which has been devoted to “debunking the myths” of Ukrainian Orthodoxy.
On 7 September 2025, at the National Reserve “St. Sophia of Kyiv”, the public association Sophia Brotherhood, with the support of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), held a round table entitled “From Debunking Myths to the Search for the Common Good: Contemporary Dialogue Initiatives in Ukrainian Orthodoxy and Prospects for Post-War Renewal.”
How should the sacralization of the victims and heroes of the war take place? Is the “Ukrainianness” of the UOC a part of its genotype that will be passed on by inheritance?
Recently, on the air of the television channel Espreso, the well-known religious scholar Andriy Kovalyov raised the issue of the possibility of establishing in Ukraine an Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
What is the “survivor’s guilt” and how does it affect communication within society? What effect does Metropolitan Onufrii achieve by reducing sermons about the war to the statement of soteriological truisms?
How do believers think? Why do two Orthodox identities exist in Ukraine? How does the “exclusion from reality” mechanism work, and what happens when religious identity is replaced by loyalty to an institution?
The media outlet Glavcom recently published an interview with Ukrainian Member of Parliament Yuliia Sirko — one of the active lobbyists for the swift implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Religious Organizations” (better known as the Law on the Prohibition of the UOC), adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in August last year. Ms. Sirko spoke in detail about the difficulties that arise in putting this law into practice, either due to objective circumstances or the human factor.
Every theologian works in two possible modes. One mode is prophetic ministry, and the other is teaching ministry.
We shouldn’t just construct random myths or ideas, like the concept of an “open Orthodoxy of a new kind.” We must construct myths that grip, that infect people.
Let’s be realistic. Option one: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) recognizes that Constantinople is the Mother Church.
One must become someone who has their own “autocephaly”—that is, their own head—and act accordingly. In truth, these decisions are being made at every level.
Doesn’t it seem to you that the way different jurisdictions interpret the canons, how they understand canon law and the role of the Tomos in that, actually serves not to unite, but rather to divide us?
We cannot live without myths altogether. But some myths must, and can, be dismantled.
Amidst ecclesiastical confrontations, loud proclamations, and political maneuvering, one voice seems to get lost the most easily – the voice of the ordinary parishioner.
I would like to present three real-life examples of when people – and sometimes entire parishes – for various reasons decided to leave the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) and move to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP).
I come from a rare parish where a three-year catechism course is part of church life. In a sense, our community members could be called “victims” of catechesis.
In Ukraine, a battle has begun between the Chalcedonian constitutional-federalist model and the modern confederative-despotic model, and the prehistory of this struggle is much older than the 2019 Tomos.
In the turbulent sea of contemporary Ukrainian Orthodoxy, where religious currents collide with geopolitical storms, the question “What is faith?” arises with particular urgency.
Part of the “Thoughts Aloud” mini-series created jointly by the “Sofia Brotherhood” and the German foundation Renovabis, within the project “Contemporary Ukrainian Orthodoxy: Breaking Myths
#thoughts_aloud: Prayer at the rupture: when God is one, but people are different. Reflections of a UOC priest from a small Ukrainian village
Christ said: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Is contemporary Ukrainian Orthodoxy ready to look in the mirror and acknowledge its illness?
In every religious tradition, there is a distinctive terminology that is completely clear to insiders yet can seem abstract or even contradictory to outsiders.
First and foremost, I want to note that the strategy prevailing in modern ecclesiastical jurisdictional relations in Ukraine is fundamentally flawed.
Part of the “Thoughts Aloud” mini-series created jointly by the “Sofia Brotherhood” and the German foundation Renovabis, within the project “Contemporary Ukrainian Orthodoxy: Breaking Myths
A good question – what should theology be like? And should there even be theology? That’s a different question. Another question: is theology actually a form of thinking? At least, contemporary theology.
The Ukrainian church crisis has reached such a dead end that it seems it can no longer be resolved without external intervention. And such intervention exists – but, by a strange twist, it looks more like pouring gasoline on a fire than wise and influential mediation.
My name is Mykola, and I am a Ukrainian of Orthodox confession. I present myself this way because for some time now I no longer identify exclusively with either of Ukraine’s two main jurisdictions – I recognize both and partake in the Sacraments of both.
In a world that changes by the minute, where information flows endlessly and challenges press harder than ever, society expects the Church to offer more than spiritual care—it demands a clear prophetic stance.
In The Little Prince, Saint-Exupéry wrote, “We are responsible for those we have tamed.”
In the 20th century, Ukrainian Orthodoxy repeatedly embarked on the path of independence from the Moscow religious center.
Shame. Shame before children, parents, relatives, loved ones, and all reasonable Orthodox believers. This is the emotion nesting in my soul now.
I begin my day with the words: “Lord, let me live through this day without stepping away from Your commandments, without offending my neighbor.”
Modern-day Ukraine is not only a battlefield for territorial integrity — it is also an arena of competing internal spiritual identities. Amid unprecedented challenges, when each day brings new trials, society expects unity, support, and moral leadership from its religious institutions.
I must admit, it’s a very difficult question to answer, because we are working from the foundations of canon law and ecclesiastical governance established in the 8th century.
In today’s Ukrainian reality, this phrase sounds almost like a challenge. Many people immediately equate the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate with political loyalty to the aggressor state.
Today, my barber told me he wanted to become a sommelier. His friend said to him, “Zhenia, that’s very risky — you’ll end up drinking only expensive wine.” It’s the same with myths. I teach the theory of myth and understand how dangerous it is to use the word “myth” as a synonym for prejudice.
Glory to God to all! In this post, I would like to share my perspective on the current issue within our UOC-MP.
I want to remind us that the real division isn’t between communities of the so-called Ohienko and Brianchaninov traditions – it runs deeper.
Once, I left… I ran away like the last coward—without saying goodbye, without explaining anything.
The Sophia Brotherhood is a civic organization. It is not some imitation of a Church, not a new ecclesiastical structure, not a sect.
Can one truly feel ashamed of the Church? Of course not—after all, we know the Church to be holy, and therefore sinless. We can only ever take pride in it and rejoice that we know it and freely belong to it.
It’s important to highlight the current tendency: many have begun to treat the simultaneous existence of two or more Orthodox jurisdictions in Ukraine not as a temporary anomaly, but as a legitimate, permanent state.
That’s a very important question — about worldview and the capacity to overcome it. For me, the formula is: “For a person, it is impossible; but for God, all things are possible.”
Why do parishioners remain in the UOC-MP? Despite the horrors of the Russian invasion, which has shifted from a war of attrition to a war of extermination.
“Do I really need autocephaly if all I want is to pray?” This question seems as naïve as saying, “I go to church for God, not the priest,” “the main thing is to be a good person,” or “God is in my heart.”
The thing is, bishops never act unilaterally. Yes, we can meet for coffee. But these things do not get implemented simply by gathering together and deciding something. For what purpose are we forming this?
In seeking a meta-level and a meta-language, first of all, we shouldn’t fear the existence of multiple meta-languages.
“For me, a Church that reads not only the Gospel, but also the news.” Encountering the topic, I began to gather arguments, but quickly realized: a Church that reads the Gospel alone already suffices for me.
The resonance of the events surrounding the Chernivtsi cathedral remains strong. What we witnessed shocked many and stirred intense emotions.
What is a person to do in a situation of inter-jurisdictional dialogue or conflict? For me, everything begins with subjectivity. And if someone doesn’t understand what jurisdiction they belong to, then they have a religious question.
The past five years have proven extremely difficult for Orthodoxy in Ukraine. These years have revealed the depth of our crisis.