Through Different Paths to Symphony: The Historical Framework of the Relationship between Eastern Orthodoxy and Political Authorities in Ukraine and Russia

The author argues that at least since the 14th century, one can speak of great differences in the development of the relationship between Eastern Orthodoxy and political authorities. Whereas Eastern Orthodoxy in the present-day Russia always tried to distance itself from the western influences, its counterpart in Lithuania and Poland mainly embraced such influences. This became particularly visible during the late 16th and the first half of the 17 th century. Western patterns and Ukrainian hierarchs also strongly shaped the politics of Peter the Great towards the Eastern Orthodox church. Its lack of any meaningful autonomy in relationship with state authorities since 1721 remained characteristic for centuries to come. Therefore, the Ukrainian-Russia church conflict since 1990 has a much longer prehistory. Of course, the autocephalous Ukrainian church was also forced to rely heavily on the help of the state authorities.