BIOETHICS IN THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF UKRAINIAN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of bioethical issues in the social teaching of Christian churches in Ukraine under the conditions of contemporary social transformations. Bioethics is considered as an interdisciplinary field formed at the intersection of law, medicine, biology, ethics, and religious worldview. Particular attention is paid to the influence of historical and cultural traditions, religious beliefs, and the model of church-state relations on the formation of bioethical approaches in Ukrainian society. 
The paper examines the specific features of the social teaching of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches in Ukraine regarding abortion, euthanasia, organ transplantation, reproductive technologies, genetic engineering, and the protection of human dignity. It is established that despite confessional differences, Christian churches in Ukraine share a common position on the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death and emphasize the inadmissibility of human dehumanization caused by the uncontrolled development of biomedical technologies.
Special attention is devoted to the activities of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations in shaping public attitudes toward bioethical challenges, as well as to the transformation of church social ministry during the full-scale war in Ukraine. The development of military, medical, and social chaplaincy is analyzed as an important element of contemporary Christian social practice. The study concludes that the social teaching of Christian churches in Ukraine is undergoing dynamic development, combining traditional theological principles with responses to modern bioethical challenges and the needs of Ukrainian society.