As part of the work to expand ecumenical ties in Odessa, on September 15, the first meeting of the ecumenical club of the Community of St. Paul was held. It consisted of a lecture “The Problem of Dehumanization and the Orthodox-Lutheran Dialogue”, which was given by a candidate of philosophical sciences, associate professor of the Faculty of Journalism of Odessa National University named after I.I. Mechnikov, Anna Nikolaenko (Golubitskaya) and further discussion. She spoke about the origins and trends of the so-called “Z-Orthodoxy,” which has become one of the tools for fomenting aggression against Ukraine. Among them, the lecturer especially noted the trend of “anthropological minimalism” – reducing the complexity of human nature to one of the characteristics, which leads to dehumanization and justifies violence against undesirable groups.
The participants, including members of the St. Paul congregation, representatives of students and the public, discussed issues of understanding anthropology in Orthodoxy and Protestantism, the policies of Russian churches in the context of “anthropological minimalism” and prospects for the development of dialogue between believers of different faiths on issues of combating dehumanization.
