Organization of the Conferences 1994-1997

The series of eighteen symposia was divided into six traveling sessions:

• The Historical Context, Establishment of the Union of Brest and the First Generation after the Union
  
• Church, State, and Society in Ukraine in the 17th Century
  
• The Union of Brest and Ukrainian Culture in the 17th Century
  
• The Union of Brest and the Internal Church Life in the 17th Century
  
• Mentality, Identity and Theology in Ukraine and Belarus in the 17th Century
  
• An Ecclesiological Evaluation of Early Modern Unionism
  

Each session was held in three cities: Kyiv, Lviv, and a third city different for each session. The four main speakers of each session presented their papers in each of the three cities. However, the moderator and the official respondents (at least two for each paper) were different in each city. Since almost two hours were dedicated to each talk there was time for ample exchange between the presenter, the formal discussants, and members of the audience. The general audience—free to enter into the discussion after the atmosphere and tone of discourse had been established by specialists—received answers to questions that a contemporary believer or amateur church historian might have.

Work summary

The format of the Beresteis’ki chytannia (Brest Lectures) was effective not only in terms of content. With a relatively small number of main speakers considerable intellectual ferment was generated on a limited budget. Although the Brest Lectures were somewhat taxing for the speakers who were called upon to travel and put in eight hours of sessions in three cities in the span of five to seven days, the tight organization and the competence and exceptional cooperation of the speakers left lasting impressions and fostered enduring friendships. It is interesting to note that in recent years an ever-increasing number of conferences in various disciplines in Ukraine are imitating aspects of the "Brest Lectures" format.

Participants: representatives of various religions and denominations

Conference participants delivered their speeches in the following order:

Bishop Lubomyr (Husar)
Vittorio Peri
Mykhayil Dmytriyev
Borys Gudziak (2 reports)
Sister Sophia Senyk (3 reports)
Gerhardt Podskalsi
Serhyi Plokhiy (2 reports)
Teresa Khynchevs’ka-Hennel’
Tetiana Oparina
Vasyl’ Nimchuk
Archbishop Ihor (Isichenko)
Volodymyr Aleksandrovych
Oleksandra Tsalay-Yakymenko
Father Porfiriy Pidruchnyi
Father Petro Galadza
Borys Floria
Frank Sysyn
Henadz’ Sahanovych
Father Ernst Christoph Suttner
Father Andriy Chirovski

Among the main speakers representatives of the Greek Catholic and Orthodox denominations were equally divided - 40 percent for each denomination, Roman-Catholics constituting the remainder.


Besides the speakers, other participants of the formal discussion were:

Father Serhiy Hayek
Bishop Daniyil (Chokaliuk)
Yaroslav Dashkevytch
Yaroslav Isayevych
Dzimitriy Kariev
Andrew Quinlan
Nataliya Kochan
Myroslav Labun’ka
Oleksa Myshanych
Omelian Pritsak
Vasyl’ Putsko
Father Robert Taft
Vasyl Ul’yanovs’kyi
Nataliya Yakovenko
Serhiy Yakovenko

Among the participants of the readings were also representatives of the three Orthodox jurisdictions (Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate).

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