Institute of Ecumenical Studies for the first time held online the Ecumenical School for Dialogue “Ukraine at the Crossroad between East and West: Religious, Social and Geopolitical Dimensions”, July 5-16, 2021. About 30 participants from different countries (Ukraine, Poland, Check republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Kenya, Uganda, USA and Canada) took part in the school. During two weeks of intensive work they studied the key political, social and religious processes occurring in Ukraine and throughout the region; the implications of the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine; the Eastern Christian contributions to the field of theology, ecumenism and peacebuilding; the inter-denominational experience of the 2014 Maidan Revolution (The Revolution of Dignity) and its impact on the dialogue and cooperation within broader society and many other themes connected to the topic of the ESD.
The prominent professors from Ukraine and abroad had their lectures online, among them Dr. Yaroslav Hrytsak, Doctor of Historical Sciences UCU; Rev. Dr. Iwan Dacko, IES’ President, Member of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church; Dr. Thomas Bremer, Professor of Ecumenical Theology and Eastern Churches Studies at the University of Münster (Germany); Dr. Myroslav Marynovych, Vice-Rector of UCU, Co-Founder of Amnesty International Ukraine, and a Founding Member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group; Rev. Dr. Michael Plekon, Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Religion and Culture, The City University of New York, Baruch College, USA; Dr. Nicholas Denysenko Professor at Valparaiso University; Dr. Tornike Metreveli, Postdoctoral Researcher, Lund University, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies; Rev. Dr. Oleh Kindiy, Theological department UCU; Dr. Pavlo Smytsnyuk, Director IES/UCU; Taras Kurylets, Project manager IES/UCU; Dr. Taras Dzyubanskyy, Adviser to the Mayor of Lviv in Religious Issues, Director of the UCU Institute of Religion and Society; Roman Nazarenko, Researcher in the inter-religious studies, UCU Institute of Religion and Society; Dr. Roman Soloviy, Director of Euro-Asian Accreditable Association’s Research and Resources Center; Rev. Dr. Andriy Zelinsky, the Department of Chief of Mil Chaplains UGCC; Rev. Dr. Mychailo Dymyd, Professor at PTD/UCU; Taras Tymo, Lecturer in Patristics and Theology of the Icon UCU. Every lecture was followed by the vivid discussion and students’ contributions.
At the end of the school those participants, who attended the lectures, wrote, and presented their essays, were awarded by the Certificate of Completion and 4 ESTC credits. In conclusion, the students thanked the organizers for a well-planned and organized the ESD, in which they gladly participated. Most of them admitted that the topics they studied at the school were new and unknown to them, but now they have a better understanding of the religious and geopolitical processes taking place in Ukraine and in the region. They expressed confidence that the knowledge and experience, gained at the ESD, would strengthen their ecumenical endeavor in order to apply them in their own contexts.
The project was supported by the diocese of Mainz (Germany).