Today’s Establishment of Ukrainian Autocephaly and the Romanian Orthodox Church: from? the Historical Past to Mutual Understanding

Abstract

This study deals with three novels, devoted to the history of relations between the Orthodox churches of Romania and Ukraine. The first novel is built on the historical facts of the life and work of the prominent sons of the Romanian and Ukrainian peoples – Petro Mohyla and Paisius Velichkovsky in the 17th and 18th centuries. The second story is based on the interconfessional communication of the leadership of the Romanian Orthodox mission in Transnistria (Metropolitan Vissarion Pui) and the eparches of the Ukrainian churches of the UOC (Autonomous) – an archbishop Anthony Martsenko, the bishop Seraphim Kushneruk and the archbishop of UOC (Autocephalous) Mykhayil Khoroshyy, in the conditions of military confrontation during the Second World War, in the process of rechristianization in the South of Ukraine, the rehabilitation of temples, catechization among the population, conversion to Christian faith after 20 years of Stalinist atheism. The third story is a reflection on the new problems of the formation of the Local Church in Ukraine. It is important in terms of the unification of Orthodox churches and the Orthodox community in Ukraine, that for various historical reasons were in separation. It is extremely important to become aware of the current historical moment that, against the background of the European civilization's choice of Ukraine, testifies to the return to the womb of the Universal Mother-Church, to what the Orthodox Church of Rus-Ukraine was in the early Middle Ages. Here, the mutual understanding between Romanian and Ukrainian sisters-churches in addressing acute issues in the regions of Bukovina, Bessarabia will become an example for other churches, which are delaying the recognition of the OCU.