Ideological Groups within the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia and Ukraine after 2012: A Comparative Study of their Influence on the Institutions of Church Governance and its Relationship with the State

• Applicant: Nikolay Mitrokhin, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Religious Studies and Jewish Studies ; Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2018 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 403035385

This application proposes a comparative study of the current state and development of the most prominent ideological groups in the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) active in Russia and Ukraine today. The project will examine two opposing groups: Russian nationalists with monarchical and neo-imperialist views, and pro-Ukrainian groups who support granting full canonical independence, known as autocephaly, to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), which currently remains part of the ROC. This research will explore the formation, mobilization, and current status of these groups, as well as their theological, ideological, and political positions. In particular, I hope to understand the role of these groups in the ROC and UOC administrative and educational apparatus. I will also analyze the extent of these groups’ success in promoting their respective theological and political positions in the system of relations between church and state. This research will consist of oral interviews with participants of these groups, and analysis of published materials from both official sources and social networks. I will also make use of interviews conducted during my previous fieldwork in Ukraine between 2015 and 2017. I will also draw on the following sources: a personal electronic database of previous studies of the ROC between 1995-2015; a collection of periodicals on the Orthodox Church, available at the University of Bremen’s Research Centre for East European Studies; materials published by participants of the groups in question in the 2000s and 2010s—mainly in church publications otherwise unavailable in public library collections. I believe this research study will provide an important perspective on the developing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It will inform understandings of the theological and socio-political development of the ROC and the UOC, not only in this current conflict, but also in the medium-term future. Moreover, an examination of these groups’ ideological positions will help explain competing desires within the ROC, on one hand, for integration with the world ecumenical movement and universal Orthodoxy, and on the other, for autonomy from these processes, and support for the creation of an Orthodox conservative "International" based on anti-ecumenical principles.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants