Kovalenko Y. The concept of «Open Orthodoxy»: functionality and development prospects

This dissertation comprehensively explores the concept of "Open Orthodoxy" as an idea and phenomenon, which could be a possible reaction of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy to modern challenges as well as a way of developing the biggest religious community in Ukraine. The dissertation lies in a sphere of religious studies, has an interdisciplinary character and is carried out at the junction of philosophy of religion and Orthodox theology, sociology of religion and social philosophy. The theoretical and methodological components of the dissertation are based on the scientific research of modern Ukrainian and foreign religious studies scholars, theologians and researchers of religion in the social context, as well as the author's own long-term experience in Ukrainian religious and social life . The primary sources of this concept go back to the Evangelical texts through the Kyiv tradition of Orthodox theology, Russian religious and philosophical revival and the "Paris school", up to the most recent documents of the Orthodox Church in the social field. The dynamics of Ukrainians’ attitudes towards religion and religious self-identity are analyzed. The regularities, paradoxes and inconsistencies of religious statistics and sociology are identified and described as well as internal church paradigms and society's requests of religion. The author describes the religious dimension of the Revolution of Dignity and the Russian Federation's aggression towards Ukraine. The research identifies some problems and challenges, which may affect both the future of the religious community in Ukraine and the future of the Ukrainian state and society. Open Orthodoxy is presented as an alternative to the "political Orthodoxy" and the ideology of the Russkiy mir. At the same time, it has a great potential to propose answers to the global challenges faced by contemporary society. Both problems external to religion (the pandemic, ecology, education, peacebuilding) and internal religious challenges (calendar, interdenominational and inter-religious dialogue) are presented. Possible ways to solve these problems in the spirit of Open Orthodoxy are presented for each of the challenges. Also described are the examples of practical implementation of the ideas of Open Orthodoxy in the activities of the Open Orthodox University of Saint Sophia the Wisdom and other projects. In the theoretical aspect, the results of the study provide an opportunity to expand the thematic field of Religious Studies in Ukraine through the introduction to the scientific discourse of a significant amount of materials on contemporary ideas regarding Ukrainian and global Christianity. The generalizations obtained outline the possible direction of the development of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, as well as interreligious and interfaith dialogue. The research findings add up to the understanding of the religious factor in socio-political and civilizational processes. The practical value of the dissertation lies in the prospects of using materials and research results in courses of religious studies, sociology of religion, philosophy of religion, Orthodox theology in secular and religious institutions of higher education. The results of the study can be used in recommendations to state bodies of Ukraine on the effectiveness of the strategy of involving churches in discussing social issues and resolving interfaith disputes, on improving public policy in the field of freedom of conscience and religion.