In the summer and fall of 2018, the complicated situation of Orthodoxy in Ukraine intensified when the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the spiritual head of the Orthodox Church worldwide, announced that he would grant autocephaly-i.e., full independence-to a newly created Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church protested, and subsequently interrupted communion with Constantinople. Around the New Year, the new church body emerged and was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch. There are now two Orthodox Churches in the country, both of which claim canonicity. The presentation will examine theological, canonical, and societal aspects of this complex situation.
Professor Thomas Bremer has taught Ecumenical Theology and Eastern Churches Studies at the University of Münster (Germany) since 1999. His research interests are the Orthodox Churches in the Balkans and in Eastern Europe, and Orthodox-Catholic inter-church relations. He has written and published broadly on these issues. In addition, Dr. Bremer co-edited, with Dr. Andrii Krawchuk, the multi-author book Churches in the Ukrainian Crisis (2017).