RELIGIOUS SECURITY DURING COVID-19: FOREIGN EXPERIENCE – LESSONS FOR UKRAINE
Authors:   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine, Kharkovshchenko Yevhen , Predko Olena ,   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine, Turenko Vitalii ,   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
Published: May 2022

The study reveals the features and specifics of the functioning of religious security in a coronary pandemic, which began in late 2019 and continues. The conceptual model of religious security is an interconnected multilevel system of relations of practice of a new format of communication, which is possible only in the system of dialogue – «religious organizationsman- state-society» in conditions of internal and external pandemic threats and identifying heuristic opportunities that can affect new trends in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The implementation of new communicative forms between believers of different denominations testifies to the need for a new perspective on the religious practices of religious organizations, which, falling into the contextual field of the pandemic, undergoes transformational changes in the system of «safety-danger». The degree of trust in church hierarchs and authorities, the number of patients, the rate of spread of the coronavirus, the approach of major religious holidays, etc., and the individual perception of the situation. The conceptual model of religious security should be characterized by flexibility, mobility, adaptability, openness, and take into account regulatory, institutional, resource, information capabilities, mental, ideological and ideological guidelines of the Ukrainian state. Western European countries adapted relatively quickly in the context of a new model of state-religious relations during the pandemic. At the same time, it should be noted local protests and/or ignorance of quarantine measures taken by the authorities of a particular country, which led to the detention of responsible persons and/or increased morbidity among the population. In our opinion, this is due to the fact that most religious leaders in Western Europe demanded strict implementation of quarantine measures imposed by the authorities of a particular country. If there were covid dissidents, they were not representatives of the higher clergy (as in some Eastern European countries), but representatives of the middle clergy and laity. Relations between the authorities and religious organizations during COVID-19 in Eastern Europe are characterized by a certain diversity and ambiguity. This is due to the decisions of the authorities of a country. At the same time, despite some confrontation and conflicts (hidden or overt) in this region of the world, the Church changed both the practice of worship and was forced to improve the doctrine, to make adjustments to the ritual and cult activities. Paying attention to the international experience of overcoming the coronavirus pandemic, its state-confessional and inter-confessional connotations, in Ukraine it is expedient to use the following positive potential: prevention of illegal and destructive activities against various denominations, including religious minorities, religious institutions it is advisable to constantly monitor their safety, creating an appropriate information center, etc.); religious security, as a component of national security, needs proper legal consolidation, first, it is worth including this concept in the legislative process of Ukraine, as no law provides even its definition; secondly, the place and role of ethno-confessional communities in the religious space of Ukraine, prevention of formation on their basis of the regional dominant confession in this or that territory needs legislative fixing; thirdly, it requires the introduction of constant monitoring of identification / assessment of religious security risks at the national and regional levels, taking into account local, demographic, geographical and socio-cultural aspects, which must be constantly reflected in the infographics of the coronavirus pandemic.