PHILOSOPHICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS FOR CRITIQUING VALUE EROSION WITHIN CHURCH HIERARCHIES: THE UOC (MP) CASE

Abstract

The article provides a critical philosophical reflection on the value systems and socio-practical orientations of the governing hierarchy within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), with a particular focus on the societal context of Russian aggression against Ukraine from 2014 to 2026. A distinctive feature of this study is the balanced integration of philosophical analysis with empirical religious studies. The research draws upon an extensive historical-philosophical excursion, revitalizing the ideas of several European thinkers from the 18th to the 20th centuries (B. Pascal, D. Hume, I. Kant, H. Skovoroda, E. Durkheim, A. Bergson, and E. Fromm) regarding the social and ethical vectors of ideology and power within religious structures.
The discourse is systematically structured by extrapolating concepts such as fetishization, mechanical solidarity, and authoritarian religiosity onto the analysis of contemporary processes in Ukraine’s religious and social spheres. The authors explicate the «logic» of value inversion, wherein a religious institution – intended to be a vessel for humanistic meanings – de-facto implements mechanisms that paralyze both critical thinking and moral reflection. Consequently, the respective communities become more vulnerable in terms of socio-psychological stability and national security. Employing an interdisciplinary synthesis of the history of philosophy, religious studies, political philosophy, and ethics, the study offers both theoretical insight and practical utility. Its tools and findings hold significant educational and mediatory potential for intensifying and evolving the cross-jurisdictional dialogue among mid-level and grassroots religious leaders.