RENAISSANCE OF KYIV: A religious capital for a diversity of faiths (12/08/02)

RENAISSANCE OF KYIV: A religious capital for a diversity of faiths

by Marta Kolomayets and Natalia A. Feduschak

KYIV - A golden shadow warms the cavernous chamber as the faces of saints and angels emerge from mosaics and frescoes to sparkle like diamonds. An elderly woman, her head covered in heavy scarf, lights a candle and begins to pray. Next to her, a young couple, bodies touching, modestly bow their heads, then look up in wonder, cross themselves and quietly slip away. A solemn crowd gathers in a semicircle as black-robed priests file out of an overpowering vestibule and start to chant.

This was the scene at a recent Sunday evening liturgy at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral. Increasingly, such images are becoming a powerful symbol of the new Ukraine.

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, religious life in Ukraine has flourished nationwide. Of the former Soviet republics, Ukraine has proven to be one of the most tolerant to people of faith; Christians, Jews, Muslims have all found a home here.

"We believe in religious tolerance," said Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko. "We've renewed the synagogues in the city, given the German community back their kirche (church), renewed the Roman Catholic cathedral and given the Greek-Catholics a place to worship."

The facts speak for themselves, religious analysts say. Neighboring Belarus, for instance, recently approved a law that significantly curtails religious freedoms; "non-traditional" religions such as Hinduism, for instance, face harassment from authorities, while Orthodoxy in Russia is considered the "supreme" religion.

Ukraine on the other hand, while still struggling to create a democracy, has a good record in the sphere of religious freedom and religious rights. That is partly due to the historical diversity of Ukraine's religious configuration that has not allowed for the establishment of a religious monopoly.

Kyiv remains Ukraine's religious capital. Having accepted Christianity in 988, Kyiv was at the crossroads of religious life. Eventually it became known as the New Jerusalem; the city at one time had so many churches that it was said a thousand domes adorned the landscape. Invasions, wars and finally the Soviet period saw the demise of many of the churches that once graced the Ukrainian capital. Now, however, there is a drive to restore some of the lost glory, and a fervent hope that religious life will again take center stage.

Much of the construction taking place in Kyiv today includes resurrecting such religious monuments as Dormition (Uspenskyi) Sobor at Pecherska Lavra, St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral, and the Nativity of Christ Sobor on the Dnipro River, where Taras Shevchenko's body lay in state in 1861 and which is scheduled to open on Christmas Day.

"People have a religious need, and the Church is still a leader in people's trust," said Viktor Yelenskyi, editor of the Ukrainian journal for religious studies, The Individual and the World. "The Church has the people's trust. Up to 75 percent of the Ukrainian population trusts in the Church more than any other social institution. Neither the president, the government, the Parliament nor the army can compete with the Church on the subject of trust in public opinion polls."

The growth in religious communities is impressive. Since 1988, when Ukraine celebrated the Millennium of Christianity, the number of religious communities increased fourfold, said Mr. Yelenskyi.

"About 19 percent of Ukrainians attend church services regularly," he said. "That puts them approximately into the middle of the European pyramid behind Catholic Hungary, Poland and Ireland, which have a higher church attendance, and Czechs and Estonians, who are lower."

Ukraine remains a predominantly Orthodox nation, with its symbolism visible everywhere, from icons placed strategically in the offices of wealthy businessmen to the golden domes that enhance the capital city. However, in what has become a religious tug-of-war over souls and pocketbooks, politically the faithful are divided into three separate legal entities, which are guided by religious figures in Moscow and Kyiv. The three Orthodox Churches are as follows:

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which takes its orders from the Russian Orthodox Church based in Moscow. This entity has more than 9,500 parishes, 8,000 priests, 131 monasteries and 15 theological institutions with 4,100 studies.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, which is headed by Patriarch Filaret (and is anathema to the Russian Church). It has 3,100 parishes, 2,400 priests, 28 monasteries and 15 theological schools with 1,600 students.
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which is seeking to come under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, has more than 1,050 parishes, three monasteries and eight theological schools.

There may be yet another Orthodox Church in Ukraine. CWNEWS reported on November 26 that a fourth Orthodox group has been formed in Ukraine, headed by Metropolitan Moisei, a former deacon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, who emigrated to the United States several years ago and has now returned to Ukraine to lead the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - Sobornopravna.

"The problems of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine are in large part a reflection of the Ukrainian historical drama of political and cultural contradictions in Ukrainian society and the conflict of different identities and different models of historical memory," Mr. Yelenskyi said, commenting on the divide within the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

Many Ukrainians see the proliferation of the Moscow Patriarchate as one means of expanding its influence over Ukraine, even as the country begins its 12th year of independence. By many estimates, Russia, which has a population of over 150 million people, has only only 12,000 parishes in the entire country.

Still, most people in Ukraine identify themselves with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, not the Moscow Patriarchate per se. The primary reason for that patriarchate's dominance in Ukraine is political: Moscow has done heavy lobbying for its interests to be represented in Ukraine. In the first years of independence, and in an attempt to show their tolerance, Ukrainian authorities allowed many different faiths to practice in Ukraine.

"Ukrainian Orthodoxy's tradition of a sufficiently tolerant attitude toward the adherents of other faiths is an important distinction between Ukrainian and Moscow Orthodoxy," said Mr. Yelenskyi. "After the Kyiv Metropoly became connected with the Moscow Patriarchy in the 17th century, this tolerance of other faiths, openness to Western ideas and freedom to communicate with non-Orthodox groups brought on the severe criticism of the Moscow hierarchy against the Kyiv priesthood."

Kyiv has also become a religious center for other faiths, partly because of its historical importance to the nation.

"Kyiv is a city that is not only today's capital but speaks to us of the millennial history of Ukraine," said the Rev. Dr. Borys Gudziak, rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. "Now, as Ukraine is rebuilding, creating a new identity, a culture and vision of its history, there is a notion of the indispensability of the sacred."

While 72 percent of believers belong to the Orthodox Church, 17 percent belong to the Greek-Catholic Church. But Ukraine's West, where most Catholics live, has more religious communities per capita than eastern Ukraine. According to Mr. Yelenskyi, the Ternopil region is home to one religious community per 688 inhabitants, compared to one religious community for each 4,888 residents in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.

After years of being an underground Church, the Greek- Catholic Church is finally becoming a national rather than a regional force. Although the country's new Ukrainian Catholic University will be based in Lviv, the patriarch of the Church will be based in Kyiv.

"The presence in Kyiv is another move that connects Ukraine with the Western world," said the Rev. Gudziak.

The Jewish community, which was decimated during World War II and Soviet rule, has seen an impressive comeback. Ukraine has 500,000 citizens who officially claim Jewish heritage, although religious leaders said that number is closer to 1 million.

Even though there are repatriation problems with property, synagogues are slowly being returned to the Jewish community and have become the center of religious life. Schools for Jewish children are flourishing; and Ukraine has several yeshivas. For the first time in many years, emigration of Jews from Ukraine has dramatically declined.

"In the last 10 years the Ukrainian government has definitely, without question, done a heck of a lot to make the Jewish community feel welcome here," said Rabbi Yaakov Bleich, an American who has spent the last 12 years as the country's chief rabbi.

Muslims as well are finding tolerance in Ukraine. While many in the West may look at Muslims with hostility in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Muslims here are strong proponents for an independent Ukraine. That is in part because they have been given the right to freely worship and have not faced the kind of discrimination they face in other parts of the world.

So-called "non-traditional" (for Ukraine) religions also are finding a home in Kyiv. Because of its religious tolerance, Ukraine is seeing one of the fastest growths in the Baptist, Lutheran and Evangelical movements. Even Jews for Jesus, whose members claim Jewish heritage but believe in Christ as the Savior, have a strong following.

Turn on any television station, and one can see missionaries from around the world propagating their faith. One of the more colorful characters is a black missionary from Nigeria who has a following of over 20,000 in Kyiv. Among his faithful are four national deputies from Ukraine's Parliament. Ukraine's central radio station, which is broadcast nationally, now regularly runs religious programs.

Many of these non-traditional believers don't have their own place of worship; they rent concert halls in office buildings or other premises. Yet these movements are growing. One of the reasons for the rapid growth is that they help people cope with daily hardships in a country that still faces mind-boggling problems after the break-up of the Soviet Union - ranging from chronic unemployment and lack of decent housing to alcoholism.

"We talk about these things and help people find a way out of these situations," said Anatolii Kaluzhnyi, president of a Christian movement called New Life. His faithful help bring food to the elderly, provide marriage counseling and have an active youth group.

Mr. Yelenskyi attributed religious growth to "the fact that religious and ethnic minorities feel far more comfortable in Ukraine than their partners in the majority of other Eastern European countries and the former Soviet Union."

Marta Kolomayets is a contractor for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) based in Kyiv. A former editorial staff member (1982-1984, 1988-1996) and Kyiv correspondent for The Ukrainian Weekly, she has also written for the Associated Press, Newsweek and The Chicago Tribune. Kyiv has been her home for the last 11 years.

Natalia A. Feduschak is a freelance journalist who has written for The Washington Times, The Denver Post, The Wall Street Journal and other U.S.-and Canada-based publications. She divides her time between the United States and Ukraine. She is also a former staffer of The Ukrainian Weekly (1985-1987).

This article is the last in a series of six about the "Renaissance of Kyiv."

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