Various current events in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus underline the continuing importance of peace ethics as an issue for the Orthodox Churches in these countries. Firstly, there is the continuing conflict between the two Orthodox Churches in Ukraine, which has various implications for the social debate on the war and questions of reconciliation. Secondly, the continuing militarisation in the Russian Orthodox Church and the position of the Belarusian Orthodox Church during the protests after the presidential elections in August 2020 shed light on other aspects of the Orthodox understanding of conflict, violence and reconciliation.

The project will undertake a systematic review of basic texts and official statements on issues of peace ethics as well as analysing practical actions. The aim is to ascertain the political and social relevance of church positions and gain a better understanding of the interaction of church theology, church practice and socio-political developments. In this way, the options for involving Orthodox churches in peace and reconciliation processes can also be expanded in future.

In the post-Soviet countries, the Orthodox churches have gained significant power to shape society; they are very well connected to state structures and have influence on value discourses that determine political and social action. Social conflicts as well as military conflicts in the region show that the role of the Orthodoxy is often ambivalent. While lacking a theological system of peace-ethical concepts, the linkage of transnational church structures with national and sometimes imperial claims defines the way churches behave in conflict. Most recent examples are the war in Ukraine, social protests in Belarus or the territorial conflicts on the Russian-Georgian border.

The project aims to provide a theological analysis of the Orthodox concepts of peace and conflict, which seems indispensable for understanding the influence of the churches on the respective social discourses in the region. This applies both to the inner-church conceptions and practices of peace, reconciliation and conflict in view of the disentanglement of church structures after the end of the Soviet Union, and to the church conceptions of social peace and secular mechanisms of conflict resolution.

An English translation will be made available soon.

Das Projekt Verletzte Erinnerungen heilen („Healing of wounded memories“) zielt darauf ab, neue Räume der Zusammenarbeit zu öffnen, besonders im Hinblick auf lokale Versöhnungsarbeit. Durch den theologischen Austausch, unterstützt durch verschiedene Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften und auf der Grundlage langjähriger Dialogerfahrung, sollen Gläubige und Geistliche aus unterschiedlichen Kirchen ermutigt werden, neue Perspektiven auf Vergebung, Reue und Gerechtigkeit zu suchen. Das Grundanliegen dieses Projektes ist es, neue Begegnungen zwischen christlichen Gemeinden und Gemeinschaften zu ermöglichen, deren Beziehungen belastet sind aufgrund von Hass, Diskriminierung und Erinnerungen an Gewalt.

Die für das Projekt verantwortliche Arbeitsgruppe arbeitet in verschiedenen Regionen und Kontexten mit theologischer Expertise sowie interdisziplinärem Input und durch Kooperation mit lokalen Akteuren, die an Versöhnungsprozessen im Kontext von Nachkriegsgesellschaften beteiligt sind. Wir glauben, dass Reue, Vergebung, Gerechtigkeit und Versöhnung theologische Schlüsselkonzepte sind, welche kirchliches Bewusstsein, akademisch Reflexion und persönliches Engagement erfordern.