Religion in Ukraine

With a population of 47 million and long history of Christianity Ukraine has large Christian community. Also, it is remarkable on south of the country in Crimea exists approximately 300-thousands Crimean Tatars Muslim community.

Before Christianity was introduced in the country Ukrainians used to be pagans. When Christianity was introduced first is questioned. Officially it was 988 when Kyiv king Volodymyr baptized all Rus in water of Dnieper river. But there are lots of facts of existence churches during queen Olga times, in Western Ukraine lands and even earlier in Crimea. There are even older story about preaching by Apostle Andrew, brother of Apostle Peter in Kyiv where he headed after preaching the Gospel in Crimea and north Black Sea Greek colonies reaching Kyiv via Dnieper river.

Judaism was present on Ukrainian lands for app. 2000 years when Jewish traders appeared in Greek colonies. There was also big nation of Khazar, who confess Judaism. Since 13 century Jewish presence in Ukraine significantly increased. Later on in Ukraine was established new teaching of Judaism - Hasidism.

Muslim religion was brought in Ukraine by long history of controversies with Ottoman Empire. Crimean Tatars accepted Islam by been part of Ottoman Empire.

Anti-Religious persecution

For 73 years of Soviet Power in Ukraine (1918-1991)atheism was planted with severe persecution of Churches. Many pastors were killed during Stalin's regime.

Church activity were totally controlled by government bodies like KGB and Milicia and Committee Religious Affairs. Many Churches rejected right of Soviet government to control internal church work like preaching, accepting new believers. They and their members were severe punished. Many churches because of that matter remained unregistered. Thus Pentecostal church was forced to unite Baptist church. When Pentecostal Church decided to keep own body it was punished.

Government did not allow children to be involved in Church activities with a treat to cancel parent rights and to take them in government custody. Also was exist persecution on Ukrainian national Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches that endorse Ukrainian language in sermons.

Religious structure of society

Estimates of independent the Razumkov center in nationwide survey in 2003 found that 75.2 percent of the respondents believe in God and 21.9 percent said they did not believe in God. 37.4 percent said they attended church on regular basis.

As of January 1, 2006, there were 30,507 registered religious organizations, including 29,262 religious communities; the Government estimated that there were approximately 1,679 unregistered religious communities. More than 90 percent of religiously active citizens were Christians, the majority Orthodox. Religious practice was generally stronger in the western part of the country due to shorter period of Western Ukraine was a part of Soviet Union (1939-41; 1944-91).

Confessionally society of Ukrainian believers has estimated by nationwide survey. The result differs of official number of registered religious groups. Thus Russian Orthodox church (in today Ukraine is called Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)) traditionally (since Russian Empire and Soviet Union) has a favor of many local authorities. The survey indicates

• 50.44 percent - with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate);
• only 26.13 percent believers identify themselves as adherents of Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate (has largest number of Churches in Ukraine);
• 8.02 percent belong to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (sometimes referred to as the Uniate, Byzantine, or Eastern Rite Church);
• 7.21 percent to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church;
• 2.19 percent belonged to the Roman Catholic Church;
• 2.19 percent identified themselves as Protestants (Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, Mennonites, Adventists);
• 0.63 percent belong to Jewish religious practices;
• 3.2 percent said they belonged to "other denominations".

Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) has 35 eparchies and 10,875 communities (approximately 68 percent of all Orthodox Christian communities in the country), most of which were located in the central, southern, and eastern oblasts.

Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of Kiev headed the denomination within the country. The UOC-MP, which had 9,072 clergy members, referred to itself as The Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate uses most Russian and Old-Slavonic languages.

Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) was formed after independence and has been headed since 1995 by Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko), who was once the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine. The Church counts its history from baptizing of Kyiv Russ in 988 and had center in Kyiv until it was moved to Moscow in Middle centuries. The efforts to reestablished during Ukraine years of independence in 1918-20.

The UOC-KP had 31 eparchies, 3,721 communities, and 2,816 clergy members. Approximately 60 percent of the UOC-KP faithful lived in the western part of the country. The UOC-KP was not recognized by the UOC-MP.

The UOC-KP uses Ukrainian language.

Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church

The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) was founded in 1919 in Kyiv. Banned during the Soviet era, it was legalized in 1989.

The church has 12 eparchies and 1,166 communities, approximately 70 percent of them in the western part of the country. The UAOC has 686 clergy members.

In the interest of the possible future unification of the country's Orthodox churches, it did not name a patriarch to succeed the late Patriarch Dmitriy. The UAOC was formally headed in the country by Metropolitan Methodij of Ternopil and Podil; however, the large eparchies of Kharkiv-Poltava, Lviv, Rivne-Volyn, and Tavriya have officially broken relations with Methodij and have asked to be placed under the direct jurisdiction of Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

The UAOC uses Ukrainian language.

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) constituted the second largest group of believers after the Christian Orthodox churches. The Council of Brest formed the Church in 1596 to unify Orthodox and Roman Catholic believers. Outlawed by the Soviet Union in 1946 and legalized in 1989, the UGCC was for forty-three years the single largest banned religious community in the world.

The UGCC had 18 eparchies, 3,433 communities, and 2,136 clergy members. The UGCC's members, who constituted a majority of the believers in western Ukraine, numbered approximately four million.

The UGCC uses Ukrainian language.

Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church is traditionally associated with historical pockets of citizens of Polish ancestry who lived mainly in the central and western regions.

The Roman Catholic Church had 7 dioceses, 879 communities, and 499 clergy members serving approximately one million persons.

The Church uses Polish, Latin, Ukrainian and Russian languages.

Judaism

The size of the current Jewish population varied. The State Committee of Statistics estimated that there were 103,600 Jews. Some Jewish leaders, said the Jewish population could be as high as 300 thousand. Observers believed that 35 to 40 percent of the Jewish population was active communally; there were 240 registered Jewish organizations. Most observant Jews were Orthodox. There were 104 Chabad-Lubavitch communities in the country. The Progressive (Reform) Jewish movement had forty-eight communities.