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© 2020, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen ISBN Print: 9783847111658 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737011655 menicalPatriarchate (EP).5This ecclesial conflict,which takesplacewithin the contextofapolitical andmilitarycrisisbetweenUkraineundtheRussianFed- eration,amplifies theexistingRussian-Ukrainiancrisisandcreatesasplit inthe Orthodoxworld. LocalOrthodoxChurches are forced to take aposition in the ecclesialdisputebetweenKievandMoscow,puttingindangerthePan-Orthodox unitybycreating twopoles: tobeeitherpro-Russiaorpro-Constantinople. Thispaperwill attempt to throwsomelightonthis issue fromanethicaland theological perspective. Our approachwill start by presenting the social and religiouscontextof thisecclesialconflict.Thentheconceptofreconciliationwill be analysed fromthepoint of viewof the teachingof thegospel,which isnor- mativefor(Orthodox)Christians.Thentheissuewillbeaddressedinthelightof thenationalistic tendencies and the totalitarianpast of the region. Finally, the paperwillofferpossiblemodels (steps) towardsreconciliationbothat thePan- Orthodox level andat the levelof the localOrthodoxChurches.6 2. CurrentReligiousSituation inUkraine TounderstandthecomplexityofthereligioussituationinUkraine,itisnecessary tolookattherecentpastoftheregion:AfterthecollapseofSovietUnionin1991, threeOrthodoxChurches (re)emerged.Eachof themproclaimed itself as legit- imatecontinuatorofthehistoricalKievanMetropolis.Theonlyonethatenjoyed canonical statuswas theUkrainianOrthodoxChurch (MoscowPatriarchate – UOC-MP),currentlyheadedbyMetropolitanOnufriy(Beresowskyj)andplaced under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. UOC-MP had also been recognised by all fourteen Orthodox autocephalous Churches. The second churchhasbeentheUkrainianOrthodoxChurch(KievPatriarchate–UOC-KP) headedbyPatriarch Filaret (Denysenko)whichhas never enjoyed canonically recognition. The third Orthodox Church in Ukraine is the Ukrainian Auto- cephalousOrthodoxChurch(UAOC)withaverysmallnumberofmembersand often labelled schismatic by all the other OrthodoxChurches. Those last two Churches –UOC-KPandUAOC–weredissolved at the “UnificationCouncil” from15thDecember2018andintegratedinthenewUkrainianOrthodoxChurch. 5 TheRussianOrthodoxChurch,DepartmentforExternalChurchRelations,TheHolySynodof the Russian Orthodox Church has considered it impossible to remain in the Eucharistic communionwiththePatriarchateofConstantinople(10/152018), see:https://mospat.ru/en/ 2018/10/15/news165259/ (accessedonJuly9th2019). 6 Avery importantsourceof inspirationfor thisarticle, especially for thesectiondealingwith reconciliation,isIngeborgGabriel,ErinnerungundVersöhnung.ZurpolitischenRenaissance einestheologischenKonzepts, in:IngeborgGabriel/ChristaSchnabl/PaulM.Zulehner(ed.), Einmischungen.ZurpolitischenRelevanzderTheologie,Ostfildern2001,pp.25–47. CezarMarksteiner-Ungureanu186 Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0