THE UGCC BUREAU FOR ECOLOGY AS AN INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISM FOR DEVELOPING ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive religious studies and institutional-theological analysis of the Bureau for Ecology of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church as a systemic mechanism for the formation and development of environmental ethics in Ukraine. The relevance of the study is determined by the transformation of environmental issues from a technical-economic domain into a moral-anthropological dimension, which necessitates the involvement of religious institutions as agents of ethical internalization of environmental norms. It is substantiated that the UGCC Bureau functions as a specific type of church-based environmental institution that ensures the transition of environmental ethics from the level of declarative principles to the sphere of stable social practices through the integration of three interrelated levels: socio-doctrinal, institutional, and practical. It is established that the key ideological foundation of the Bureau’s activity is the concept of integral ecology, the reception of which in the Ukrainian context is accompanied by its adaptation to wartime conditions, energy instability, and the environmental consequences of armed aggression.
It is demonstrated that the institutional model of the Bureau has a network-based character, ensuring effective coordination among church structures at different levels, while also fostering intersectoral connections with state institutions and civil society. Particular attention is paid to the mechanisms influencing the formation of environmental ethics, which are implemented through the discursive construction of the categories of «ecological sin» and «ecological conversion», educational and formational practices, eco-social initiatives, and the integration of environmental themes into the liturgical and pastoral space. In this context, the Church emerges as a subject of moral mediation capable of transforming environmental challenges into categories of personal responsibility and collective action. It is established that the institutional effectiveness of the Bureau is determined not only by the scale of its initiatives but also by its capacity to generate long-term behavioral changes through the integration of moral norms into everyday practices.