Adviser to OP deputy head leads religion forum delegation in Romania

Deputy Presidential Office Head Tytarenko and Ukrainian religious studies scholars at a conference in Romania. Photo: Brytsyn’s Facebook page

The 22nd conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR), titled “Religions 360°,” was held in Romania, bringing together more than 700 scholars from nearly 60 countries. This year, the delegation of Ukrainian scholars was led by Viktoriia Tytarenko, an adviser to the deputy head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, conference participant Mykhailo Brytsyn reported on Facebook.

Two special panel discussions formed the centerpiece of the program involving Ukrainian religious studies scholars. One was a three-hour panel titled “Are There Limits to Freedom of Religion When National Security Interests Are at Stake? International Standards and Local Cases,” during which researchers examined the balance between freedom of conscience and the protection of the state.

The panel also featured a presentation titled “Freedom of Religion in Wartime: How to Protect the Right Without Leaving the State Defenseless.” The speaker drew on personal experience in church leadership and research into how authoritarian regimes use religion as an instrument of control, including through searches, interrogations, deportations, fines, and media pressure.

The discussions also included Lithuanian sociologist of religion Milda Ališauskienė, Ruslan Khalikov, a board member of the Ukrainian Association of Researchers of Religion, and Kateryna Nastoiashcha, head of the Sociological Research Laboratory at the Institute of National Resilience and Security.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Tytarenko had criticized the UN over its report on the Ukrainian authorities’ persecution of the UOC.

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