Legal Regulation of the Formation of Military Chaplaincy Institute in Ukraine

The article is devoted to the understanding of the tradition of the formation of legal support for military-religious cooperation and the retrospective of the formation of the conceptual and organizational foundations of the institutionalization of military chaplaincy, the clarification of the specifics of the articulation of core legal definitions, the analysis of the state of legal establishment of qualification requirements for military chaplains and their service-legal legal personality, and as well as determining the prospects for revising the legislation regulating the revival of military chaplaincy and the implementation of pastoral care for military personnel. It has been established that currently in Ukraine, the appropriate normative and legal basis has been created for the affirmation of a secular model of military-religious relations, the involvement of the most qualified representatives of the clergy of the largest denominations to meet the spiritual and religious needs of military personnel, the introduction of the institute of military chaplaincy/clergy in military formations, and the establishment of pastoral care for military personnel. The legislator implemented a «militarized» model of military chaplaincy, which objectively led to the increased conflict of domestic legislation in the field of military-religious cooperation. The specificity of the socio-legal nature of military chaplaincy lies in the immanence of military chaplains in the dualistic function of «military serviceman and wise mentor/advisor for all denominations and confessions». The activities of military chaplains aimed at overcoming social anomalies/addictions, ensuring equal opportunities, overcoming post-traumatic stress disorder, etc., are invaluable. A significant obstacle to the institutionalization of the Military Chaplaincy Service is the archaic nature of departmental legal acts that determine the strategic directions of military chaplaincy activity and the service-legal legal personality of military chaplains. In the conditions of full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the need to develop an expanded draft law on the institution of military chaplaincy in the field of defense and security has become ripe