Abstract
Up until recently there were as many as three competing Orthodox Churches in Ukraine; the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). Only the UOC-MP was recognized by the Orthodox world. In December 2018, however, the UOC-KP, UAOC and parts of the UOC-MP decided to unite into one Church jurisdiction, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The OCU received a Tomos of Autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (EPC) in January 2019. There are therefore now two Orthodox jurisdictions which compete for the Ukrainian souls, the UOC-MP and the OCU. This thesis seeks to understand what the major disagreements between these two churches are, and more importantly how the schism is perceived by ordinary churchgoers in Ukraine. If they all share a single faith, then what is it that divides the Orthodox in Ukraine? Through interviewees with 18 churchgoers and priest from both the UOC-MP and the OCU this thesis asks what motivations lie behind church belonging. The thesis gives an overview of the church conflict in Ukraine on a national and international level and argues that the Ukrainian crisis accelerated the desire for a recognized church with ecclesiastical independence from Russia.