Journalists, scholars, theologians and civic activists from various regions of Ukraine came together at research and practical conference “Revolution, War and Church in the Media Dimension”. The event took place on September 10th in downtown Kyiv, at Khreschatyk hotel.

The title of the conference reflects the historic events Ukraine has been going through since November 2013: the EuroMaidan, then the Revolution of Dignity, later – the annexation of Crimea, and now – the war in Donbas.

The purpose of the meeting was to analyze and systemize all the said processes, formulate future prospects and study the factor of the church and media that gain increasingly more significance in these historic dynamics.

During the whole day, including coffee breaks, speakers and participants discussed current issues, shared their experience and research findings. The conference agenda allowed for prepared speeches as well as brief commentary and Q&A sessions after each session.

The first speaker was Yuliana Lavrysh, a practicing journalist and a Ph.D. student of Journalism at Lviv National University. Yuliana presented her research titled “Church – Government – EuroMaidan: a polylogue in the new media context”. After the presentation, Yulia added, “Here we have the Greek Catholics, the Orthodox and the Protestants gathered in one room, which is interesting in itself. We are sharing our spiritual experience and discussing how we saw EuroMaidan.”

The next speaker was Anna Byk with her presentation “The Church and the Armed Conflict: Politics or People?” Very realistic, illustrated with facts and pictures was a research presentation of a scholar, professor of the Institute of Journalism of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University Oleksandr Kholod. He touched upon the issues of latent fascism, Reich’s theory and mass communication technologies of revolutionary fascism as a way of social in-mutation.

The function of the mass media in the Ukrainian future were discussed by Euronews journalist Taras Semeniuk, and the function of the church was studied by pastor Pavlo Valenchuk, Lord’s Transfiguration church.

“The uniqueness of this event is that we are not just analyzing revolutionary or military developments but look at them through the lens of media and church factors. Beyond any doubt, mass media have in many ways influenced the recent and current events and the way they unfolded. In their turn, churches and other religious organizations also participated in all these processes. First of all, they prayed for peace in Ukraine; second, they donated a great deal of humanitarian aid. This is what we could see during the events in Kyiv and what we are now witnessing in Eastern Ukraine,” admitted Novomedia President Ruslan Kukharchuk.

The first session of the conference ended with the presentation of the special guest of the event Rev. Dr. Arne H. Fjeldstad on the resource center for journalists The Media Projects. “We are searching answers to the questions such as how important religion is in Ukraine and how the role of the church has been transforming during the above said events. We are wondering how Ukraine will experience the church effect in the future and how it will further transform,” the speaker concluded.

Following the delicious lunch at the restaurant, conference participants were presented with reports on religious issues in the Ukrainian media after the Euromaidan and the role of the media in the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine. A highly relevant topic covered by journalist and editor Olga Bidnenko was the issue of terminological manipulations during the military conflict.

An important component of the event was the discussion of the role that the media and church have played, are playing and should play as the institutions called to shape the public opinion and serve as a foundation for state building.

In his speech, Andriy Oliynyk, Doctor of Theology and clergyman of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, presented a papal encyclical Peace on Earth issued in 1963. At that time, the state of world affairs was similar to the one we are experiencing today. In fact, due to the efforts of Vatican and the appeal of Pope John XXII to the two nuclear superpowers (the USA and the USSR), a large-scale world war was prevented. This document was issued as a result of successful peacemaking efforts and conflict resolution. It, therefore, has a lot to offer in terms of giving advice and recommendations to resolve the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea in order to bring the country back to peace as soon as feasible.

“The first important thing in peacemaking is the truth. We as a society should take the side of truth and not to be afraid of it, whatever this truth is. Another crucial element in peacemaking is solidarity. No matter what church we belong to, or what nationality we represent – we all need unity. Unity for the sake of peace,” the speaker emphasized.

Organizers plan to publish the collection of conference reports in Ukrainian and English.

Among conference speakers were also Maksym Balaklytskyi, professor of Kharkiv National University named after Karazin, Petro Pavlyuk, professor of Donetsk Christian University, and Oleksandr Tsytsenko, journalist.

Organizers plan to publish the collection of conference reports in Ukrainian and English.

Among conference speakers were also Maksym Balaklytskyi, professor of Kharkiv National University named after Karazin, Petro Pavlyuk, professor of Donetsk Christian University, and Oleksandr Tsytsenko, journalist.

Conference organizers were Novomedia Journalists Association, civic movement “All Together!” and a partner organization The Media Project.

Press-centre Novomedia Association