Response given during the panel discussion at the Round Table “Contemporary Ukrainian Orthodoxy: Debunking Myths for the Reconciliation of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine,” held on April 29, 2025, in Kyiv as part of the enlightening-analytical project “Contemporary Ukrainian Orthodoxy: Debunking Myths for the Reconciliation of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and the Consolidation of Ukrainian Society,” organized by the Sophia Brotherhood with support from the Renovabis Foundation.
Yurii Chornomorets: 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. These myths must be:
- Simple.
- Vague enough to be acceptable to many.
- Masked with liberalism under the guise of moderate Orthodoxy—“we are very traditional; we’re restoring the true tradition,” and so on.
So where is our advantage? Modern Orthodox theology has developed a new concept—“For the Life of the World”—which contains a multitude of ideas already suited for the 21st century. It envisions a future in which Orthodoxy is relevant and outlines what this future Orthodoxy could look like. This doctrine has been accepted within global Orthodoxy by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and offered up for broader discussion.
Who is this doctrine meant for? Primarily for societies in crisis—like ours. But also for societies like the United States, divided by ongoing cultural wars between extreme Republicans and extreme Democrats.
It’s crucial that we recognize what already exists—resources and ideas that can be adapted to the Ukrainian context and will immediately start working. Why? Because what we need is unity—but a dialogical kind of unity. And this concept already includes that.
Let’s move in that direction. Let’s begin popularizing modern Orthodox theology and this social doctrine. Let’s develop a Ukrainian version of it—one that is acceptable to both ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Let’s live as if the ideas already exist, the people are here, Christ is alive, and—as if there were no bishops.
Our Orthodoxy must be as if a nuclear war had happened, all the bishops had perished, and we—like cockroaches—survived. We, like a virus, survived.
We must become contagious in this regard—this is crucial. It doesn’t matter how many people start it. What matters is that the “infection” begins and continues to spread.
Of course, ideally, there would be unity. And I must emphasize again: the fact that bishops are imperfect actually facilitates the possibility of union. If one jurisdiction had perfect bishops, we’d sit back and believe unity was impossible. But imperfect bishops? That’s great—it means they can find common ground.
What contradiction is there between Bishop Pavlo Lebid and Bishop Mykhailo Zinkevych? Under the right conditions, they’d find common ground in 30 minutes. And if they can, so can everyone else. That’s a radical example of two irreconcilables who seem ready to destroy each other. But most others are more moderate.
So let us be optimists. Let’s create unity here and now—and eventually, they will come to us.