The 1924 Tomos on autocephaly of the orthodox church of Poland in the context of russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine

This article examines the significance of the 1924 Tomos on autocephaly for the Orthodox Church in Poland, which transcends the boundaries of Polish and ecclesiastical history. The document established a precedent for granting autocephaly to former dioceses of the Kyiv Metropolis and acknowledged the illegitimacy of its subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate in 1686. In 2018, this very argument was employed in discussions justifying the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). Both Tomoses cannot be considered outside the context of conventional and hybrid wars or separate from issues of national security, which were pivotal for newly independent states–Poland in 1924 and Ukraine today. In modern times, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has become an integral part of the political system of the aggressive state. It actively supports the war against Ukraine launched by the state leadership and promotes the so-called «theology of war,» an ethnophyletic heresy that glorifies the state, war, and violence. For this reason, Ukraine in 2024 adopted significant political and legislative decisions regarding the collection of ROC dioceses in Ukraine, which self-identify as the «Ukrainian Orthodox Church.» A significant portion of its clergy has been exposed for collaboration with the aggressor state. Both the Polish and Ukrainian Tomoses are equally relevant for determining the status of Orthodox communities in other countries that were once part of the Kyiv Metropolis, such as Belarus or Lithuania. Consequently, these countries are directly affected by the historical and canonical conclusions and assessments contained in the 1924 Tomos.