The article offers to look at modern political processes through the prism of the participation of the religious factor in them. Considering the current Russian-Ukrainian war as a kind of trigger that launched global changes in the system of international relations, burying its previous bipolar model, the authors analyze the changes that have taken place in Ukraine, in its religious segment. Ukraine is turning from a little-known part of the world religious space into an active reformer of this space. At (...) a certain moment, it becomes the center of a global confrontation between three main religious points - Constantinople, Rome and Moscow, reformatting the usual Christian landscape of the world. The given quantitative and qualitative indicators of the presence of Ukraine as a religious entity in the European and world space demonstrate both its enrichment and problematic conflict. The war revealed latent inter-denominational confrontations in Ukraine and in the world. Such a powerful tool of ideological influence as religion/church is used by conflicting parties to justify and sanctify aggression and protect against it. The authors focus their attention on Ukrainian Orthodoxy, on its role in reformatting the religious space. Ukrainians put an end to the unlimited dominance of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ecumenical Orthodoxy, which affected other Christian communities. The absence of Ukraine in the geopolitical space, which lasted due to historical circumstances, has been overcome. Now it is subjectively present in the worldwide religious community and is there as an independent spiritual and organizational force that will only increase its potential. The former world security system has collapsed, and the old levers of restraining the aggressive and dangerous intentions of individual countries do not work. So, it is suggested to think about new forms of geopolitical coexistence. In the constructive solution of controversial issues, the human community must accumulate the efforts of all possible participators of the democratic alliance, including such a powerful religion, which over the millennia of its spiritual and practical activity has developed its own specific methods of peacemaking. (shrink)

There have been analyzed the current state of the institute of the military chaplains in the Polish Army. The author reviewed the circumstances of the return of the military chaplains in the military structures of the Polish Republic. In the article there has been researched the legal framework for pastoral work in the Armed Forces of Poland, including analysis of the relevant provisions of the laws of the Republic of Poland and the directives of the Ministry of the Armed Forces (...) of the Republic of Poland. There was determined that the issues of the military chaplaincy are regulated by the block regulations that apply only to fifteen representatives of churches and religious organizations and the Law of the Republic of Poland "On Guarantees of Freedom of Conscience and Religion" that covers all religious organizations in Poland. There are only three religious organizations in the structure of the Armed Forces of Poland which have appropriate pastoral institutions consisting of professional soldiers. These institutions include the Field Ordinariate of the Polish Army formed by the Roman Catholic Church in Republic of Poland; Orthodox Ordinariate of the Polish Army by the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Republic of Poland and the Evangelical Military Pastoral Institution by the Evangelical Augsburg Church in Republic of Poland. Activities of above mentioned Military Ordinariates acting within the Armed Forces of Poland are financed from the state budget which is approximately 0.08 percent of annual expenditures allocated for national defense in Poland. In the consequence of the description of the organizational structure and activities of spiritual Ordinariate of the Polish Army there have been found that the largest of the three above mentioned Ordinariate is Field Ordinariate of the Polish Army formed by the Roman Catholic Church in Poland, as the dominate one among religious network Poland. In particularly the chaplains of the Field Ordinariate of the Polish Army take care of soldiers of the Roman and Greek Catholic faith. Accordingly Orthodox Ordinariate of the Polish Army cares Orthodox soldiers and Evangelical Military Pastoral Institution - soldiers representing the Protestant community. Therefore there have been analyzed the conditions for having the right to meet the religious needs in the army for members of other faiths. In the article the author highlighted the positive aspects of organizational experience of military chaplains activities for further introduction it in Ukraine. (shrink)

У процесі військово-релігійного співробітництва між Збройними силами України (ЗСУ) та духовенством виділено два періоди: від 1992 р. до 2008 р. і від 2008 р. до сьогодні. У першому періоді спостерігається налагодження співпраці релігійних інституцій з армією; після 2000 р. несистемна діяльність церков і релігійних організацій поступово набуває консолідованої міжконфесійної співпраці в наведеному контексті. Другий період можна охарактеризувати як період консолідованої співпраці церков та релігійних організацій із ЗСУ та дієвої співпраці із Міністерством оборони України, а також налагодження партнерських відносин між армією (...) та релігійними організаціями. (shrink)

The article deals with the problem of military chaplaincy service formation in the period of independence of Ukraine as one of the priority directions of relations between the state and religious organizations in Ukraine. The current state of military pastoral care is analyzed directly in the context of Catholic churches activities in Ukraine in this aspect. In particular, the institutional component of the Catholic churches is clarified, statistics demonstrating the quantitative and percentage composition of the Catholic churches in the religious (...) network of Ukraine are provided. The results of sociological surveys of the religious situation in Ukraine and the identification of religiosity of the population in the context of Catholic churches are analyzed. The opinion of the population of Ukraine regarding the trust in religious organizations, religious leaders and the military formations of Ukraine is examined. The opinion of the population on the expediency of establishing a military chaplaincy institute in Ukraine is also clarified. The organizational division of the internal structure of the Catholic churches in Ukraine is presented, and it is also clarified which structural units are responsible for coordination with the Ukrainian power structures and organization of pastoral work. Attention is drawn to the review of the cooperation of the Catholic churches in Ukraine with the military formations of Ukraine in the aspect of pastoral activity. Special attention is paid to the coverage of the various areas of pastoral work directly by the military chaplains of the Catholic churches and the coordination of this work by the relevant structural units of the Catholic churches. In particular, conferences, meetings, trainings, pilgrimages on the organization and implementation of pastoral work in the field of military chaplaincy. Also, consideration is given to the activities of the advisory body on military chaplaincy at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and its contribution to the establishment of the Institute of Military Chaplaincy in Ukraine. The inter-denominational cooperation of the churches in Ukraine, including the Catholic ones, was considered in establishing a military chaplaincy institution in independent Ukraine through the activities of interfaith associations. It has been found that the issue of legislative securing of the Institute of Military Chaplaincy in the Armed Forces of Ukraine remains urgent. In this regard, the legislative work in this area and the involvement of Catholic churches in Ukraine are highlighted. (shrink)

Ukraine is a multinational and multi-confessional state. As of January 1, 2013, there are more than a thousand religious organizations representing ethno-confessional entities in Ukraine. Among the latter, 309 units of the institutional network of Jewish organizations are active. It should be noted that Judaism in Ukraine has its centuries-old history and specifics of relations in the interreligious and state-confessional sphere. In this article, the question of analyzing the current state and specifics of state-confessional relations in the context of the (...) activities of Jewish organizations in Ukraine is under discussion. (shrink)

The process of restitution of the former religious property began in the first years of Ukraine's independence. The leadership of the state assumed the obligation to return to the religious organizations expropriated property by the former Soviet authorities. However, during the twenty-two years of existence of independent Ukraine, the relevant competent state bodies have not been developed, and accordingly, the integrated mechanism for returning the former religious property to religious organizations has been developed.

Today, the world is a polycivilizational, multicultural, multinational, and polyreligious conglomerate. The process of globalization, which covered almost all spheres of human life, made it possible to increase the number of meetings of representatives of different national, cultural and religions of their identities. Actually, the future of all humanity depends on the nature of these meetings.