Commenting on the collection of conference materials “Reconciliation Strategies. The Role of Churches in Ukraine”, edited by Sergei Bortnik, a teacher of the UOC Kyiv Theological Academy And Seminary, “Pravblog” publishes an analysis of the current situation, taking into account the collapse of the religious world in Ukraine. Despite the fact that the conference was held in October 2018, the book contains materials that relate to the “post-tomos” time and are of the greatest interest.

So, if we summarize a number of Bortnik’s speeches, we can note the following:

1. In Orthodoxy there is no universally recognized code of canon law. As a result, different interpretations of the canons lead to confrontation at the inter-Orthodox level and local clashes.

2. The ecclesiological consciousness of the Church of Constantinople was imprinted by staying within the framework of the Ottoman Empire, the experience of which Phanar is now trying to extrapolate to the entire Orthodox Church.

3. One of the main causes of conflicts is the intervention of politicians in church affairs and the politicization of relations between religious structures, conditioned by the historical experience of Ukrainian regions being part of different states. At the global level, the Ukrainian religious sphere has become hostage to the geopolitical confrontation between the United States and Russia.

4. There is a danger of transformation of the Church’s presence in the public sphere into a “civil religion”. When the Church begins to “serve” the interests of the state or society, while losing its religious identity and eschatological perspective. In many ways, this is typical for the OCU.

Actually, the last two points are, in our opinion, the main ones. And they lead to the disappointing (already ours) conclusion that the religious conflict in Ukraine will last for a long time. Due to the fact that the ideology of the “OCU” (and before that of the “Kiev Patriarchate”) is largely focused on one goal – the destruction or marginalization of the UOC for political reasons. Their strategy seems to be simple – no opponent, no conflict. Because of this, it is meaningless to talk about “reconciliation” at the moment. Rather, we need to talk about leveling the attempts to put political expediency above human rights and the right to freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine.