FROM ATHEISM TO ORTHODOX SPIRITUALITY The Ukrainian intelligentsia tries to settle the inter-denominational crisis

We are now mainly working on arrangements for an All-Ukrainian Local Orthodox Church Council or Unity Council. We are planning to establish a Joint Pre-Council Committee made up of clergymen from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the US and Canada, and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the Diaspora

For centuries church brotherhoods - communities of laymen assisting the Church in various respects, upholding spirituality and public education - played a very important role in public life. Gradually, their influence and importance diminished, and they ceased to exist. But the need in them remained, and this is especially manifest now that the interfaith crisis has reached a point where restoring understanding among the local churches is practically impossible without an external intermediary. This situation causes concern in some of the Ukrainian intelligentsia and it gave rise to a movement for a single Ukrainian Church.

Among the most active laymen in the religious domain is Mykola Kravets, who holds an honorary doctorate from the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and is President of the Kyivhuma Corp. The Day asked him to explain his interest in religious affairs and whether he saw a way to achieve religious unity.

Q: Once a convinced atheist, you began to attach such importance to Orthodoxy in Ukraine, sparing little time, energy, and money. Why?

A: I am convinced that a state cannot exist and develop effectively without spirituality. After Ukraine became independent I decided to help in this sphere, relying on my own resources. I took active part in restoring and furthering the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. I chaired its Board of Trustees and instituted a $3,000 prize for the best graduate of the year. I am proud to have the Academy’s Honorary Doctoral Diploma #1.

I am aware of how much the Ukrainian nation suffers because of the rift in the Orthodox Church, so I founded a Ukrainian Spiritual Unity Foundation last year, involving representatives of all our churches, including the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Ukrainian intellectuals have started to rally round the Foundation, among them scientists, writers, and men of the arts. We are also supported by the Art Patrons League. I think that the Foundation is probably the only public institution that seeks no political, financial or other revenues.

Q: What are the Foundation’s guidelines?

A: It’s main purpose is the creation of a single Ukrainian Church uniting Orthodox Eastern and Greek Catholic adherents. We have sent copies of a special bulletin and other documents to the hierarchies. We hope that this information will help the unification process. At the second World Ukrainian Forum we established lasting contacts with churches in the Ukrainian Diaspora where the single Local Church idea is quite popular. We are also planning visits at the highest Orthodox echelons - Moscow Patriarch Aleksiy II and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeus II.

Q: Your Foundation was set up at the end of last year. What have you accomplished to date?

A: I had the honor of meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeus I (during his visit to the United States). The Patriarch received our small delegation very kindly and blessed the Foundation. I was presented with a badge reading symbolically “Blessed is he that acts in the name of the Lord.” Moreover, his Holiness Bartholomeus I favored our idea to use the Academy campus for a Permanent Representation of the Patriarch of Constantinople in Kyiv (by the way, the idea came from Patriarch Dmytro and Archbishop Ihor Isichenko of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church.

As we talked it transpired that the information the Ecumenical Patriarch had concerning the religious situation in Ukraine was biased. This may have been why he invited Foundation representatives to visit Istanbul in the first quarter of 1998 to discuss our religious affairs at greater length and depth. However, to do so, we must have the Ukrainian President’s official message addressed to the Ecumenical Patriarch. Regrettably, we haven’t been able to surmount all the Presidential Administration’s bureaucratic barriers to get to Mr. Kuchma. In other words, further contacts with Patriarch Bartholomeus I depend on Messrs. Rozumkov and Lytvyn. Well, to keep the ball rolling, the Foundation turned to all volunteer organizations officially registered in Ukraine (about 60), asking to support the church unity idea and write to the President.

Q: What was their reaction?

A: We were amazed at how well and quickly people responded. The idea of a single Orthodox Church was close and dear to them all and they were pained to watch the spreading rift. The response from the Society of the Blind was especially moving. As soon as they received our message their president arrived in person to find out exactly what they could do to help.

Q: Would you mind a personal question? How did you evolve from Communist ideology to Orthodox Christianity?

A: I was a Communist and occupied important party posts due to my involvement in the industrial sector. I was Head of the Tire Industry Directorate of Ukraine and my party career climaxed when I became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Of course, I was an atheist, but like so many others, it was a formality, it came automatically with my membership card. Besides, I knew no other ideology, no spirituality at the time. But something happened to me when the old system collapsed. Acceptance of the new order came easily, naturally. I was among the first to place my enterprise on a leased basis. By the way, the subject was broached several years ago in an interview taken by Ms. Larysa Ivshyna, your current chief editor. In 1997, approaching 70, I had my first confession and Communion, performed by a clergyman I respect so much, Father Superior Sebastian of the Vydubychy Monastery. It became a major event of my life.

Q: Finally, a few words about your plans and the Foundation’s current endeavors?

A: We are now mainly working on arrangements for an All-Ukrainian Local Orthodox Church Council or Unity Council. We are planning to establish a Joint Pre-Council Committee made up of clergymen from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the US and Canada, and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the Diaspora. The Foundation expects the Council to by presided over by the Protosinkelos of the Ecumenical Patriarch. If all goes well, the Council will approve the status of a single Church and elect a single Patriarch. What greater accomplishment could one expect in this world?

One brief afterthought: The pragmatic reader will shrug at the naivetО of a man hoping to solve a problem of such staggering magnitude and complexity, something over which most experienced hierarchs and theologians have spent countless sleepless nights. On the other hand, if each and everyone in this society made even a little effort to alleviate the general atmosphere of enmity, there could have been no rift in the Church, period.

Photo by Leonid Bakka, The Day