Institutional Formation and Development of the Luhansk Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Autocephalous Synodal Church (1922-1936)
Abstract
The article attempts to recreate the process of organizational development of the Luhansk eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Autocephalous Synodal Church of 1922-1936. It was found out that due to the conditions of aggravation of confessional division the representatives of the renewal movement managed to minimize their reformation provisions during 1926-1928. The Synodal Church managed to stabilize the institutional crisis. With the appointment of Bishop Veniamin to a vacant for a long time throne, with the active support of local authorities, the Luhansk diocese has reached its greatest development, covering in its structure about a quarter of the Orthodox communities of the district. It is determined that since the Ukrainian-centric ideological principles of the Synodal Church were not fully embodied in the practical activities of the renewal clergy, the emergence of the Conciliar Episcopal Church as a relatively canonical alternative Reformation denomination of Ukrainian Orthodoxy became relevant in Ukraine. In particular, in the Luhansk region, as a result of the unconstructive methods of Bishop’s Photius (Topiro) governing, it was the local diocese of the UCEC that became a refuge for the renewal communities, almost doubling the number of its own parishes during 1928-1929. It is proved that the development of the Synodal Church in the Luhansk region was marked by the lack of an effective system of government, the low discipline of the clergy, and especially given the change in state policy in the field of religion. The historical circumstances of the confessional division of Ukrainian Orthodoxy in the interwar period on the example of a separate region are highlighted. Further research on this topic requires clarification of a number of ethnocultural, political, linguistic, and canonical issues of local renewal communities, which will expand the understanding of the religious worldview of the local population and propose new conceptual approaches to overcoming church divisions.
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