Religions in Ukraine
The religions in Ukraine are diverse. The largest church is the Orthodox Church. Until 2018 this was in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate with 45.7%, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) with 13.3% and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church with 5.9% of the respondents (2016 ) split. In October 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarch, against the resistance of the Russian Orthodox Church, recognized the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate and the comparatively small Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church as canonical and made the territory of Ukraine under his direct jurisdiction with the aim of uniting the three orthodox churches. However, this merger was only partially implemented, as the church, under the Moscow Patriarch, boycotted the synod at which the merger was decided. There are also other Christian churches and communities, as well as small Muslim, Buddhist and other communities. Only 5.4% of those questioned described themselves as atheists.
Christianity
Orthodox churches
history
Since 988, what is now Ukrainian territory has belonged to the Byzantine Orthodox Church in the Patriarchate of Constantinople . In 1596, the Orthodox dioceses were largely dissolved after the Union of Brest in Poland-Lithuania . Only a few Orthodox monasteries and brotherhoods remained .
In Kiev, after the annexation to Russia in 1668, the Orthodox Church became the sole Christian church again. In Volhynia and other areas that came to Russia since 1772, it became the only church again, as part of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Patriarchate of Moscow . In Galicia , which had come to Austria in 1772 , it still practically did not exist.
In 1919 the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was formed in the independent Ukraine , which continued to exist in the Polish-dominated areas until 1937. Since 1941 it has been re-established in the German-occupied territories, as has a Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church in western Ukraine. After 1944 there was only the traditional Orthodox Church in the Ukrainian SSR as part of the Russian Orthodox Church. This suffered from severe repression and restrictions.
Since 1990, three Orthodox churches have formed in the independent Ukraine, which from then on fought over shares in believers, real estate, their canonical legitimacy and political influence.
Orthodox Church of Ukraine
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine was created on December 15, 2018 through the merger of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
- Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate was an autocephalous church until its merger with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, headed by the Metropolitan of Kiev. It had belonged to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople since 2018 and in 2016 was the largest church in Ukraine in terms of numbers. It owned relatively few churches and monasteries as it had no legal predecessor in the country.
- Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was the smallest Orthodox church in Ukraine until its merger with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate. It was formed in 1990 from the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church abroad and invoked the traditions of the various autocephalous churches in Ukraine until 1944. It was also not recognized as lawful by the other Orthodox churches, although it was part of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church in Understand foreign countries recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It had only a few churches and monasteries.
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) is an autonomous church within the Russian Orthodox Church and is formally subordinate to the Patriarchate of Moscow . It was formed in 1991 and owns most of the churches and monasteries, as the successor to the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It is particularly widespread in the east of the country, but in 2016 it had fewer believers than the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate).
Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is a church that follows the Byzantine rite , but is subject to the Pope in Rome in terms of canon law and organization ( Eastern Catholic Church ). It is directed by the Grand Archbishop of Kiev and Halych . The relationship with the Orthodox churches is bad, as they do not recognize the Greek Catholic Church as legitimate (see Union von Brest # ratings ). In addition, it was also about restitution and property issues of church goods.
Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church
Since 2009 there has been a small so-called Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church , which has split off from the Greek Catholic Church. This is independent (autocephalous), but is not recognized by the Orthodox and Catholic Churches.
Roman Catholic Church
There is also the Roman Catholic Church in the west of the country, with a Latin rite and its own dioceses. This is strongly Polish.
Protestant communities and churches
There are a large number of Protestant Christian communities in Ukraine. The Baptists in Ukraine are the largest group, the Pentecostal churches the second largest group. The German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine is represented by only a few parishes, the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia is of regional importance.
Other Christian communities
Among the other Christian denominations , the congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses make up the largest group.
Islam
The Islam , once in the south of the country dominant ( Crimean Khanate ), has a presence with about 4% of the population, but especially in the Crimea with her of old Muslim tatarisch- or Turkic population (where 12%). It is also divided, there is the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Crimea in Simferopol , and the smaller spiritual administration of the Muslims of Ukraine in Kiev. Islam is politically active, there is a party of the Muslims of Ukraine (the Kiev administration), and also a strong nationalist, but pro-Western and Turkey-friendly Tatar party in Crimea.
Share of all Muslim communities combined- 10% - 33% Muslim
- 5% - 10% Muslim
- 0% - 5% Muslim
- 0% Muslim
Judaism
In 1772 the Ukraine was divided, the northern part with Volhynia and Podolia came to Russia , the south with Galicia to Austria . At times there were relatively good opportunities to live in both parts. The Jewish population lived in their own districts, the so-called shtetl . In the Russian Empire, Jewish settlement was limited to the Pale of Settlement , which included parts of what is now Ukraine. As in all of Central Eastern Europe, Judaism was largely wiped out in the Holocaust of the Nazi era.
Today is in Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) , a Museum of Jewish History and Culture of Bukovina ( Чернівецький музей історії та культури євреїв Буковини ), and since 2012 in Dnipro the Menorah Center ( Еврейский общественный центр "Менора" ), also with a museum dedicated to Jewish History and the Holocaust in Ukraine . It is the Jewish Congress of Ukraine ( Ukrainian Jewish Congress operated).
statistical data
2016
Representative survey of the Institute of Sociology in Kiev (excluding Oblast Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea)
| Religion or church | proportion of |
|---|---|
| Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate) | 45.7% |
| Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) | 13.3% |
| Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church | 5.9% |
| Protestant communities and churches | 1.0% |
| Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church | 0.8% |
| Roman Catholic Church | 0.7% |
| Buddhist communities | 0.6% |
| Islam | 0.2% |
| Judaism | 0.05% |
| Other religions | 0.7% |
| Believer without a religious community | 22.0% |
| Atheists | 5.4% |
2006 to 2010
Source: Razumkov Center, 2006
In the last ten years, several representative surveys on the religious affiliation of people in Ukraine were carried out in 2006 and 2010. For this purpose, a survey of the officially registered communities of the individual religious communities was carried out in 2010.
The loss of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea recently resulted in some percentage shifts to the detriment of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), as it is particularly well represented in these areas.
Regional differences
The majority of Ukraine is Christian Orthodox. However, there are regional differences that can be represented by the proportion of registered religious communities in regions. Most noticeable is the majority of Catholics in the western oblasts of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil, as well as the fact that the relatively largest proportion of Muslims is in the Crimea. A non-government report in January 2010 showed the following distribution:
| Confessions of the religious communities | Orthodox | from that: | Catholic | from that: | Protestant / Evangelical | Jewish | Muslim | Others | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moscow Patriarch | Kiev patriarch | Autocephalous Church | Greek Catholic | Roman Catholic | |||||||
| Zakarpattia Oblast | 39.2% | 36.9% | 1.9% | 0.1% | 30.4% | 24.8% | 5.6% | 19.7% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 10.1% |
| Lviv Oblast | 31.3% | 2.1% | 16.0% | 13.2% | 57.6% | 53.0% | 4.6% | 6.8% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 3.9% |
| Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast | 35.7% | 2.3% | 22.4% | 11.1% | 53.4% | 50.9% | 2.4% | 5.2% | 0.2% | 5.5% | |
| Ternopil Oblast | 37.9% | 7.2% | 14.0% | 16.8% | 51.1% | 46.2% | 4.9% | 8.1% | 0.2% | 2.7% | |
| Volyn Oblast | 67.8% | 43.1% | 23.3% | 1.2% | 2.8% | 1.1% | 1.7% | 24.0% | 0.1% | 5.4% | |
| Rivne Oblast | 66.9% | 43.2% | 22.1% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 27.6% | 0.3% | 3.6% | |
| Chernivtsi Oblast | 53.5% | 38.3% | 14.3% | 0.1% | 4.9% | 2.1% | 2.8% | 26.7% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 13.9% |
| Khmelnytskyi Oblast | 69.8% | 52.4% | 12.5% | 4.4% | 10.1% | 2.8% | 7.4% | 14.6% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 4.5% |
| Zhytomyr Oblast | 63.1% | 46.1% | 15.0% | 1.2% | 10.0% | 0.8% | 9.1% | 19.4% | 1.2% | 6.4% | |
| Vinnytsia Oblast | 68.3% | 51.2% | 13.3% | 2.9% | 7.5% | 0.9% | 6.7% | 14.4% | 1.4% | 0.1% | 8.2% |
| Kiev Oblast | 64.6% | 40.6% | 22.3% | 1.4% | 2.3% | 0.9% | 1.3% | 25.0% | 0.9% | 0.2% | 7.0% |
| Kiev city | 45.6% | 28.1% | 13.6% | 2.9% | 2.8% | 1.8% | 1.0% | 30.1% | 1.2% | 1.5% | 18.7% |
| Chernihiv Oblast | 76.5% | 62.8% | 13.3% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 17.7% | 0.8% | 4.3% | ||
| Sumy Oblast | 71.4% | 52.8% | 18.2% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 19.6% | 1.2% | 0.3% | 6.4% | |
| Poltava Oblast | 62.2% | 43.6% | 16.9% | 1.3% | 0.8% | 0.5% | 23.9% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 10.4% | |
| Cherkasy Oblast | 63.4% | 44.5% | 14.1% | 4.5% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 0.6% | 20.6% | 1.3% | 0.3% | 13.6% |
| Kirovohrad Oblast | 51.8% | 36.3% | 12.6% | 1.7% | 1.2% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 35.8% | 1.5% | 0.3% | 9.3% |
| Odessa Oblast | 58.6% | 45.2% | 9.6% | 0.6% | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1.4% | 26.0% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 10.7% |
| Mykolaiv Oblast | 61.1% | 40.3% | 19.1% | 1.3% | 2.9% | 1.6% | 1.3% | 21.1% | 1.2% | 1.0% | 12.7% |
| Kherson Oblast | 54.3% | 40.3% | 8.8% | 5.2% | 4.7% | 2.9% | 1.8% | 26.1% | 0.8% | 5.8% | 8.3% |
| Dnepropetrovsk Oblast | 59.6% | 48.6% | 9.3% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 24.0% | 1.6% | 0.4% | 13.1% |
| Zaporizhia Oblast | 51.8% | 37.5% | 11.6% | 0.9% | 1.6% | 0.5% | 1.1% | 28.2% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 16.5% |
| Donetsk Oblast | 47.3% | 40.9% | 4.9% | 0.3% | 2.8% | 1.9% | 0.9% | 29.8% | 1.0% | 1.6% | 17.5% |
| Kharkiv Oblast | 49.3% | 44.2% | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1.7% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 29.2% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 17.3% |
| Luhansk Oblast | 56.1% | 50.7% | 3.6% | 0.8% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 25.3% | 1.6% | 1.2% | 15.2% |
| Autonomous Republic of Crimea | 42.4% | 38.0% | 2.9% | 0.7% | 1.7% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 16.9% | 1.0% | 28.9% | 9.3% |
| Sevastopol city | 49.1% | 44.8% | 1.7% | 0.9% | 3.4% | 2.6% | 0.9% | 25.9% | 1.7% | 6.0% | 13.8% |
| Ukraine as a whole | 54.6% | 36.9% | 13.3% | 3.8% | 14.4% | 11.5% | 2.9% | 19.8% | 0.8% | 1.7% | 8.7% |
literature
- Oleh Turij: The religious life and the interdenominational relations in the independent Ukraine . Institute for Church History of the Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv (Lemberg) 2007
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ukrainian Orthodox Church before independence. In: religion.orf.at. October 12, 2018, accessed December 2, 2018 .
- ↑ Representative survey of 2014 people by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology Релігійна самоідентичність і молитва в Україні , Table 7 (Ukrainian)
- ↑ a b c Report on registered religious communities , carried out by the Institute for Religious Freedom (IRF), a non-governmental organization; As of January 1, 2010
- ↑ Релігійна самоідентичність і молитва в Україні Tables 7 and 1, survey of 2014 people, evaluated representatively
- ↑ Survey by the Razumkov Center ( Memento of the original from April 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 2006 (Ukrainian)
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