The Icon and the Tracts: A Restrained Renaissance of Religious Liberty in Ukraine

The Icon and the Tracts:1 A Restrained Renaissance of Religious Liberty in Ukraine [O]ne of the most vile things existing in the world, religion, his advanced by] the attempt to replace the official state priests by priests of moral conviction. - V.I. Lenin^sup 2^ I. INTRODUCTION A block from city hall in the Ukrainian metropolis of Lviv stands a domed cathedral. After the Soviets occupied Lviv during the Second World War, they converted this church into a museum depicting the evils of religion throughout history, a type of museum common in the Soviet Union. Beginning in 1992, in addition to the older, dilapidated displays on the Spanish Inquisition and wars of the Reformation, a visitor could observe a second kind of exhibit: brand-new displays of reverently adorned icons and Jehovah's Witnesses' tracts. The museum director, Volodimir Hayuk, whose institution had undergone a complete ideological about-face in the previous months, had taken the absurdity in stride. His business card had read "Museum of History of Religion and Atheism," but now the adaptable Mr. Hayuk was simply crossing out those last two words by hand? He had done his part for perestroika. A new chapter in Ukraine's history of religious liberty had opened. But will this new chapter last? This Comment suggests it will. By surveying Ukraine's religious history, current churches, and modern ideological debate, and by analyzing its recent legislation on religious freedom in the context of Ukraine's three most controversial churchstate issues, this Comment concludes that Ukraine's prospects for religious liberty evoke guarded optimism. State policy regarding religious liberty and legal rights has been extraordinarily important in Ukraine's history. "Ukraine" means "boundary land," and its religious dynamism stems from its location at the boundaries of religious tectonic plates. It straddles two fault lines: between Orthodoxy and Catholicism (the Great Schism occurred in 1054), and between Christianity and Islam.4 Since A.D. 988, when the kingdom of Kievan-Rus officially accepted Christianity, church and religion have consistently played a central role for the people of Ukraine. No other institution has provided a measure of stability in Ukraine, a nation so dominated by foreign empires that it lacks "a politically usable past."5 The collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's declaration of independence in 1991 partially dismantled the Soviet police state and yielded an environment of relatively free speech, press, and religious exercise. By every measure, this liberalization catalyzed an unprecedented religious renaissance. Qualitatively, the new range and variety of religious activities and organizations reflects a profound shift: from religion as the servant of "a state-controlled society to a pluralist and secular religious and social model."6 Quantitatively, the number of registered congregations grew geometrically in the early 1990s and continues to increase. Carried forward upon this wave of religiosity, the renaissance unleashed competition both among churches and between church and state. Such disputes were inconceivable in a state with one party and one church, which used brutal force and subtle infiltration to liquidate threats to either. By contrast, the new freedom and accompanying multiplicity of religious organizations makes open disagreements possible, even inevitable. While the West accepts similar disputes at home as normal consequences of pluralism and basic freedoms, Ukraine has inherited a different baseline of normalcy, and this discord troubles many Ukrainians. The three central disputes in this area regard the property rights of churches, the legal status of churches, and governmental policy toward (foreign) missionary organizations. By 1993, the honeymoon of euphoric openness toward religion ended, and Ukraine's policy turned somewhat restrictive! However, Ukraine has rejected both a campaign to establish a state church and an attempt to mimic Russia's recent menacing measures. …