Christianity is the predominantreligion in Ukraine, with 85% of the population identifying as Christian according to a 2022 survey conducted by theKyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). Seventy-two percent of the population avowed fidelity to anEastern Orthodox Church: 54% of Ukrainians proclaimed adherence to theautocephalousOrthodox Church of Ukraine; 14% identified asOrthodox Christian without specifying a church affiliation; 4% associated with theMoscow Patriarchate. Another 9% of Ukrainians professed devotion to theCatholic Church in Ukraine: 8%Ukrainian Greek Catholics and 1%Latin Catholics. Two percent of the population declared affiliation to amainstreamProtestant Church, and a further 2% identified with somealternative sect of Christianity.[1]
Ten percent of Ukrainians identified asatheists. WithChristianity in Ukraine overwhelmingly predominant, representative statistical samples of the population surveyed by KIIS in 2020, 2021, and 2022 reported 0% of respondents identifying withJudaism andIslam. An older survey by theRazumkov Center in 2018 estimatedJews in Ukraine at 0.4% of the population, with smaller 0.1% minorities followingHinduism,Buddhism andPaganism (Rodnovery).[2] According to the surveys conducted by Razumkov in the 2000s and early 2010s, such proportions have remained relatively constant throughout the last decade, while the proportion of believers overall has decreased from 76% in 2014 to 70% in 2016 and 72% in 2018.[2][3]
As of 2022, Christianity was particularly strong in westernmost Ukrainian regions, where most Greek Catholics lived. In central, southern and eastern regions, Christians constitute a smaller proportion of the total population, particularly low in the easternmost region ofDonbas.[3] Another religion that is present in Ukraine besides Christianity isRodnovery (Slavic native faith), which comprises Ukrainian- and Russian-language communities (some Rodnover organizations call the religionOrthodoxy [uk] (Ukrainian:Правосла́в'я,romanized: Pravoslávʺya), thus functioning in homonymy with Christian Orthodox churches).[4][5]
Crimean Tatars professingIslam represent a significant part of the population inCrimea, which prior to 2014 wasa subject of Ukraine, but has been since that yearoccupied by Russia. As of 2016, without Crimea, where Muslims formed 15% of the population in 2013,[6] only Donbas maintains a larger community of Muslims compared to other Ukrainian regions (6%).[3]
Since before the outbreak of thewar in Donbas in 2014, but even more violently so from that year onward, there has been unrest between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian religious groups in the country.
After the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "signed a decree enacting a National Security and Defense Council decision to impose personal sanctions against representatives of religious organizations associated with Russia".[7] Ukraine's government will specifically examine the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and ban any activities relating to pro-Russian movement.
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In pre-historic times and in the Early Middle Ages, the territories of present-dayUkraine supported different tribes practising their traditional pagan religions (though note for example theTengrism ofOld Great Bulgaria in present-day Ukraine in the 7th century.Byzantine Rite Christianity first became prominent about the turn of the first millennium. Later traditions and legends relate that in the first century CE theApostle Andrew himself had visited the site where the city ofKyiv would later arise.[9]
In the 10th century the emerging state ofKievan Rus' came increasingly under the cultural influence of theByzantine Empire. The first recorded convert to Eastern Orthodoxy,Saint Olga, visitedConstantinople in 945 or 957. In the 980s, according to tradition, Olga's grandson,Vladimir, had his people baptised in theDnieper River.
This began a long history of the dominance of Eastern Orthodoxy inRuthenia, a religious ascendancy that would later influence bothUkraine andRussia. Domination ofLittle Russia byGreat Russia (from 1721) eventually led to the decline ofUniate Catholicism (officially founded in 1596 during Polish rule) in the Ukrainian lands under Tsarist control.
Judaism has existed in the territories of present-day Ukraine for approximately 2,000 years: Jewish traders appeared in Greek colonies. After the 7th century Judaism influenced the neighbouringKhazar Khaganate. From the 13th centuryAshkenazi Jewish presence in Ukraine increased significantly. In the 18th century a new teaching of Judaism originated and became established in the Ukrainian lands –Hasidism.
TheGolden Horde (which adoptedIslam in 1313) and the SunniOttoman Empire (which conquered the Ukrainian littoral in the 1470s) broughtIslam to their subject territories in present-day Ukraine.Crimean Tatars accepted Islam as the state religion (1313–1502) of the Golden Horde, and later ruled as vassals of the Ottoman Empire (until the late 18th century).
During the period ofSoviet rule (c. 1917–1991) the governing Soviet authorities officially promotedatheism and taught it in schools, while promoting various levels ofpersecution of religious believers and of their organizations. Only a small fraction of people remained official church-goers in that period, and the number of non-believers increased.
The 20th century saw schisms within Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukrainian territory.[clarification needed]
As of 2022, according to a survey by theKyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), 85% of Ukrainians identified asChristians. 72% identified themselves withEastern Orthodoxy, 9% to theCatholic Church (8%Eastern Catholic, 1%Latin Church) and 4% adherents of aProtestant Church or otherChristian movement.[1]
Approximately 3 in 5 Ukrainians (58%) reported affiliation with one of the majorEastern Orthodox Church bodies in Ukraine, while 14% identified as Orthodox Christians without specifying affiliation to a church patriarchate. A significant shift in Orthodox identity occurred in the wake of the February 2022Russian invasion of Ukraine. The July 2022 KIIS survey found only 1 in 25 of Ukrainians (4%) identified with theUkrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), a considerable drop from nearly 1/5 (18%) in June 2021 and 15% in June 2020 recorded in the same KIIS polling in the preceding years. The decline was geographically uniform: UOC-MP peaked inEastern Ukraine at 6%, only slightly above 3-5% reached elsewhere in the country. Likewise, among ethnicUkrainians, there was little variance: 3% ofUkrainian-speakers, 4% of bilingual Ukrainians, and 6% ofRussian-speakers identified with the UOC-MP; only rising to 13% among Russian-speaking ethnicRussians living in Ukraine.[1]
Conversely, in 2022 more than half of Ukrainians (54%) identified with theautocephalousOrthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), up from 42% in 2021 and 34% in 2020. OCU identification was most predominant inCentral Ukraine (59%) andSouthern Ukraine (57%). OCU affiliation included strong majorities of Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians (58%) and bilingual Ukrainians (53%), but also encompassed significant minorities of Russian-speaking Ukrainians (46%) and Russian-speaking Russians (36%).[1]
Consequent upon the sharp decline in UOC-MP affiliation, in 2022 theCatholic Church in Ukraine was the second-largest church body in the country, counting nearly 1 in 10 Ukrainians as adherents; the overwhelming majority members of theUkrainian Greek Catholic Church. Catholics were heavily concentrated inWestern Ukraine, where more than 1 in 4 Ukrainians (28%) identified withCatholicism, compared to only 1-2% elsewhere. Catholic identity was also highest (14%) amongUkrainian-speaking ethnicUkrainians.[1]
A 2018 survey conducted by theRazumkov Centre found that 71.7% of the total respondents declared to be believers, while 11.5% were uncertain whether they believed or not, 5.3% were uninterested in beliefs, 4.7% were unbelievers, 3.0% wereatheists, and a further 3.7% found it difficult to answer the question.[2]
About 67.3% of the population declared adherence to one or another strand ofOrthodox Christianity (28.7% of theKyiv Patriarchate, 23.4% just Orthodox, 12.8% of theMoscow Patriarchate, 0.3%Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and 1.9% other types of Orthodoxy), 7.7% justChristians, 9.4%Ukrainian Greek Catholics, 2.2%Protestants and 0.8%Latin Catholic.Judaism was the religion of 0.4%; whileBuddhism,Paganism andHinduism were each the religions of 0.1% of the population. A further 11.0% declared themselves non-religious or unaffiliated.[2]
Among those Ukrainians who declared to believe in Orthodoxy, 42.6% declared to be members of theUkrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate, while 19.0% declared to be members of theUkrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscovian Patriarchate. A further 0.5% were members of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Among the remaining Orthodox Ukrainians, 34.7% declared to be "just Orthodox", without affiliation to any patriarchate, while a further 2.8% declared that they "did not know" which patriarchate or Orthodox church they belonged to.[3]
| Changes over time and region in the proportions of people in Ukraine identifying themselves as believers, etc.[3][2] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whether you attend church or not, who do you think you are? | Ukraine | 2016 survey split by region | |||||||||||
| 2000 | 2010 | 2013 | 2014 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | West | Centre | South | East | Donbas | ||
| Believers | 57.8% | 71.4% | 67.0% | 76.0% | 70.4% | 67.1% | 71.7% | 91.0% | 73.5% | 65.7% | 55.6% | 57.2% | |
| Those who hesitate between belief and disbelief | 22.5% | 11.5% | 14.7% | 7.9% | 10.1% | 11.7% | 11.5% | 4.7% | 7.3% | 8.3% | 14.2% | 19.5% | |
| Not a believer | 11.9% | 7.9% | 5.5% | 4.7% | 6.3% | 4.1% | 4.7% | 0.9% | 4.8% | 7.4% | 13.4% | 7.2% | |
| Atheists | 3.2% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 2.5% | 2.7% | 2.5% | 3.0% | 0.2% | 2.6% | 3.2% | 3.5% | 5.0% | |
| Do not care | 2.6% | 4.4% | 5.1% | 4.9% | 7.2% | 8.2% | 5.3% | 1.2% | 8.0% | 13.0% | 7.3% | 9.4% | |
| Difficult to answer | 2.0% | 3.3% | 5.7% | 3.9% | 3.9% | 6.3% | 3.7% | 1.9% | 3.8% | 2.3% | 5.9% | 1.6% | |
| Whether you attend church or not, who do you think you are? % of respondents | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukraine[3] | Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)[10] | Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate)[10] | Other Orthodox[10] | Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church[10] | Just Christian[10] | Other denominations[10] | Do not belong to any religion[10] | ||
| Believers | 70.4% | 88.1% | 88.5% | 74.1% | 96.9% | 55.2% | 89.2% | 11.8% | |
| Those who hesitate between belief and disbelief | 10.1% | 5.9% | 7.1% | 12.5% | 3.1% | 20.3% | 3.2% | 14.5% | |
| Not a believer | 6.3% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 3.5% | 0.0% | 4.2% | 1.1% | 29.4% | |
| Atheists | 2.7% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 4.3% | 13.6% | |
| Do not care | 7.2% | 2.3% | 1.8% | 5.8% | 0.0% | 10.5% | 0.0% | 25.5% | |
| Difficult to answer | 3.9% | 2.0% | 2.0% | 3.5% | 0.0% | 9.8% | 2.2% | 5.2% | |
| 2000[11][12][13] | 2005[11][12][13] | Nov 2010[11][12][13] | Mar 2013[11][12][13][14] | Apr 2014[12][13] | Feb 2015[15] | July 2015[16] | Mar 2016[13] | Nov 2016[17] | Apr 2018[2] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthodox | 66.0% | 60.8% | 68.1% | 70.6% | 70.2% | 73.7% | 78% | 65.4% | 64.7% | 67.3% |
| Latin Catholic | 0.5% | 1.6% | 0.4% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 10% (including Greek) | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.8% |
| Greek Catholic | 7.6% | 7.6% | 7.6% | 5.7% | 7.8% | 8.1% | - | 6.5% | 8.2% | 9.4% |
| Protestant[b] | 2.0% | 1.3% | 1.9% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 4% | 2.2% (other Christian) | 1.9% | 2.2% |
| Jewish | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.1% | - | - | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| Islam | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.2% | - | <1% | 1.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Buddhist | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.2% | - | - | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Hindu | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | - | - | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Pagan | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | - | - | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Just Christian | 6.9% | 15.8% | 7.2% | 8.6% | 6.3% | 8.5% | - | 7.1% | 12.7% | 7.7% |
| Other | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.7% | 1% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| Do not consider myself to be any of these creeds' religions | 15.3% | 11.8% | 13.2% | 11.3% | 12.5% | 6.1% | 7% | 16.3% | 11.4% | 11.0% |
| No answer | - | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 1.1% difficult to answer | - | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.9% |
| Sample size | 2010 | 2012 | 25000 | 2409 | 2018 | 2018 | 2018 | |||
| Religion | West[c] | Center[d] | South[e] | East[f] | Donbas[g] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthodox | 57.0% | 76.7% | 71.0% | 63.2% | 50.6% |
| Latin Catholic | 1.4% | 1.9% | 0.5% | 0.3% | ∅ |
| Greek Catholic | 29.9% | 0.4% | 0.5% | ∅ | ∅ |
| Protestant | 3.6% | 1.0% | 0.5% | 1.9% | 2.5% |
| Jewish | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.3% | ∅ |
| Muslim | ∅ | 0.1% | ∅ | 0.5% | 6.0% |
| Hindu | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | 0.3% | 0.6% |
| Just Christian | 4.8% | 6.5% | 5.1% | 8.1% | 11.9% |
| Others | ∅ | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.8% | ∅ |
| Not affiliated to the religions listed above | 3.1% | 12.7% | 21.7% | 24.7% | 28.3% |
A February 2015 survey byRazumkov Centre,SOCIS,Rating andKIIS gave the following data at oblast level:[19]
| Oblast | Region[h] | Orthodox | Greek Catholic | Latin Catholic | Protestant | Christian (unspecified) | Not religious | Difficult to answer (incl. others) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cherkasy Oblast | Center | 89% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | 5% | 3% | 1% |
 Chernihiv Oblast | Center | 87% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 9% | 2% | 2% |
 Chernivtsi Oblast | West | 86% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 5% | 2% | 2% |
 Dnipropetrovsk Oblast | East | 83% | 0% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 9% | 5% | 2% |
 Donetsk Oblast | Donbas | 69% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 15% | 10% | 5% |
 Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast | West | 35% | 57% | 1% | 1% | 6% | 0% | 0% |
 Kharkiv Oblast | East | 76% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 13% | 8% | 2% |
 Kherson Oblast | South | 75% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | 10% | 10% | 3% |
 Khmelnytskyi Oblast | Center | 78% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 6% | 7% | 2% |
 Kyiv | Center | 79% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 6% | 11% | 1% |
 Kyiv Oblast | Center | 80% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | 9% | 7% | 2% |
 Kirovohrad Oblast | Center | 76% | 0.5% | 0% | 0.5% | 17% | 5% | 1% |
 Luhansk Oblast | Donbas | 71% | 0.5% | 0% | 0.5% | 8% | 18% | 2% |
 Lviv Oblast | West | 30% | 59% | 2% | 1% | 6% | 1% | 1% |
 Mykolaiv Oblast | South | 80% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 6% | 11% | 1% |
 Odesa Oblast | South | 84% | 0.5% | 0% | 0.5% | 6% | 6% | 1% |
 Poltava Oblast | Center | 66% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 26% | 5% | 1% |
 Rivne Oblast | West | 91% | 1% | 1% | 5% | 2% | 0% | 0% |
 Sumy Oblast | Center | 85% | 0.5% | 1% | 0.5% | 7% | 5% | 1% |
 Ternopil Oblast | West | 36% | 52% | 3% | 3% | 6% | 0% | 0% |
 Vinnytsia Oblast | Center | 84% | 0.5% | 1% | 0.5% | 7% | 6% | 1% |
 Volyn Oblast | West | 97% | 1% | 0.5% | 1% | 0.5% | 0% | 0% |
 Zakarpattia Oblast | West | 68% | 19% | 7% | 1% | 3% | 1% | 1% |
 Zaporizhzhia Oblast | East | 73% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 10% | 16% | 1% |
 Zhytomyr Oblast | Center | 85% | 0.5% | 1% | 0.5% | 7% | 5% | 1% |
| Type of Orthodoxy | % of Orthodox | % of total population |
|---|---|---|
| Orthodox of the Kyivan Patriarchate | 38.1% | 25.0% |
| Orthodox of the Moscovian Patriarchate | 23.0% | 15.0% |
| Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church | 2.7% | 1.8% |
| Just Orthodox | 32.3% | 21.2% |
| Do not know | 3.1% | 2.0% |
| 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2013 | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthodox | 66.0% | 60.8% | 68.1% | 70.6% | 70.2% | 65.4% | 67.3% |
| Moscow Patriarchate | 9.2% | 10.6% | 23.6% | 19.6% | 17.4% | 15.0% | 12.8% |
| Kyiv Patriarchate | 12.1% | 14.0% | 15.1% | 18.3% | 22.4% | 25.0% | 28.7%[i] |
| Autocephalous | 1.3% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 1.8% | 0.3%[i] |
| Just Orthodox | 38.6% | 33.4% | 25.9% | 28.8% | 28.1% | 21.2% | 23.4% |
| Orthodox do not know which denomination | 4.6% | 1.9% | 1.6% | 2.5% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 1.9% |
| Missing | 0.2% | 0.1% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.2% | 0.4% | ??? |
| Religion | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orthodox Christian | 71% | 72% | 72% |
| Orthodox Church of Ukraine | 34% | 42% | 54% |
| UOC-Moscow Patriarchate | 15% | 18% | 4% |
| Orthodox without specification | 22% | 12% | 14% |
| Catholic Christian | 9% | 10% | 9% |
| Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church | 8% | 9% | 8% |
| Roman Catholic (Latin Church) | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Protestant/Other Christian | 3% | 4% | 4% |
| Christian | 83% | 86% | 85% |
| Atheist | 8% | 7% | 10% |
| Other | 1% | 4% | 3% |
| Difficult to say | 6% | 2% | 2% |
| Religion | West[j] | Center[k] | South[l] | East[m] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthodox Church of Ukraine | 50% | 59% | 57% | 42% |
| Orthodox without specification | 6% | 13% | 17% | 26% |
| Atheist | 4% | 11% | 12% | 17% |
| Greek Catholic | 26% | 1% | 1% | ∅ |
| Orthodox-Moscow Patriarchate | 3% | 4% | 5% | 6% |
| Protestant | 4% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Other Christian | 1% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| Latin Catholic | 2% | 1% | ∅ | ∅ |
| Other | 1% | 3% | 3% | 5% |
| Difficult to say | 1% | 4% | 2% | 2% |
| Religion | Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians | Bilingual Ukrainians | Russian-speaking Ukrainians | Russian-speaking Russians |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthodox Church of Ukraine | 58% | 53% | 46% | 36% |
| Orthodox without specification | 10% | 18% | 18% | 27% |
| Atheist | 6% | 15% | 17% | 14% |
| Greek Catholic | 13% | ∅ | 1% | ∅ |
| Orthodox-Moscow Patriarchate | 3% | 4% | 6% | 13% |
| Protestant | 2% | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Other Christian | 2% | ∅ | 1% | 1% |
| Latin Catholic | 1% | ∅ | ∅ | 2% |
| Other | 2% | 2% | 6% | 5% |
| Difficult to say | 2% | 4% | 2% | ∅ |
As of 2022, 85% of the population of Ukraine professed belief inChristianity.[1]
According to the same survey, 72% of the total population adhered toOrthodox Christianity.[2] Orthodoxy comprises about three-quarters of the population inEastern (74%),Central (76%), andSouthern Ukraine (79%), whereas Orthodoxy makes up the lowest proportion of the population inWestern Ukraine (59%).[1][3]
From 1992 to 2018, there have been three Orthodox churches active in the independent Ukraine following thedissolution of the USSR:
The UAOC and the UOC-KP were not recognized by other Orthodox churches and were considered 'schismatic'.[20]
On 11 October 2018, the excommunications of the UAOC and the UOC-KP were lifted by theEcumenical Patriarchate, the Ecumenical Patriarchate also announced it would grant autocephaly to the Orthodox faithfuls in Ukraine.[21] However, the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized neither the UAOC nor the UOC-KP as legitimate and their leaders were not recognized as primates of their respective churches.[22][23] The Ecumenical Patriarchate declared that it recognized thesacraments performed by the UOC-KP and the UAOC as valid.[24][25]
On 15 December 2018, members of theUkrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate, theUkrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and parts of theUkrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), voted during anunification council through their representatives (bishops) to unite into theOrthodox Church of Ukraine on the basis of complete canonical independence. They elected their primate,Epiphanius,[26] and adopted a charter for theOrthodox Church of Ukraine during the same unification council.[27][28][29] On 5 January 2019,Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew andMetropolitan Epiphanius celebrated a Divine Liturgy inSt. George's Cathedral in Istanbul; thetomosgranting autocephaly to theOrthodox Church of Ukraine was signed thereafter, also in St. George's Cathedral.[30]
On 27 May 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) formally cut ties and declared independence from the Russian Orthodox Church.[31][32] On August 20, 2024, theVerkhovna Rada of Ukraine banned the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine by adopting theLaw of Ukraine "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organizations" [uk].[33][34] Ukrainian religious organizations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church will be banned 9 months from the moment theState Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolicy and Freedom of Conscience [uk] issues the order, if this religious organization does not sever relations with the Russian Orthodox Church in accordance withOrthodox canon law.[35][36][37] This prohibition did not extend toEastern Orthodoxy in general, contrary to what someonline claims asserted.[38][39]
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) is recently formed national Orthodox Church from Unification council in December 2018, After mergers from Ukrainian Orthodox Church—Kyiv Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and parts of Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). The title of its primate is "His Beatitude (name), Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine".[40][41][42] The church usesUkrainian as its liturgical language.[43]
Prior to 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was a constituent part of theRussian Orthodox Church (the Moscow Patriarchate). The UOC, like most Orthodox churches in Eastern Europe, predominantly usesChurch Slavonic in church services.
In the week following the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) on 15 December 2018 several parishes announced they would leave the UOC and join the new church.[44]
On 27 May 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church formally cut ties and declared independence from the Russian Orthodox Church.[45][32]
Other Orthodox communities in Ukraine include:[46]
Armenian Apostolic Church
Adherents ofOriental Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine are mainly ethnicArmenians. Historical ties between peoples of Ukraine andArmenia have resulted in significant presence ofArmenian diaspora in Ukraine throughout history and up to the modern times. Most of ethnicArmenians in Ukraine are adherents of theArmenian Apostolic Church, one of main churches of theOriental Orthodoxy, distinctive fromEastern Orthodoxy in terms of particularmiaphysite christology. In spite of those theological differences, relations between Armenian Apostolic Church and various Eastern Orthodox Churches in Ukraine are friendly. There is an Armenian eparchy (diocese) in Ukraine, centered inArmenian Cathedral of Lviv, and also there are many Armenian churches and other monuments on the territory of Ukraine.[48]
Byzantine RiteEastern Catholicism is the religion of 9% of the population of Ukraine as of 2022. This church is largely concentrated inWestern Ukraine, where it gathers a significant proportion of the population (28%).Latin Church Catholics compose 1% of the population of Ukraine, mostly in western (2%) and central (1%) regions. Catholicism is largely absent in eastern Ukraine and non-existent in Donbas.[1][2]
As of 2016, there are 4,733 registered Catholic churches, among which 3,799 belong to theUkrainian andRuthenian Greek Catholic Churches and 933 belong to the Latin Church.[46]
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church traditionally constituted the second largest group of believers after the Christian Orthodox churches. TheUnion of Brest formed the Church in 1596 to unify Eastern Orthodox and Catholic believers. Outlawed by the Soviet Union in 1946 and legalized in 1987, the church was for forty-three years the single largest banned religious community in the world. Major ArchbishopSviatoslav Shevchuk is the present head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.[49] The church uses Ukrainian as its liturgical language.
The Latin Church is traditionally associated with historical pockets of citizens of Polish ancestry who lived mainly in the central and western regions. It uses the Polish, Latin, Ukrainian and Russian as liturgical languages.
Main concentrations of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church are in Trans-Carpathia near the Hungarian border. This community has multiple ties inHungary,Slovakia and theUnited States.
As of 2022, Protestants make up 2% of the population of Ukraine, with the strongest concentration inWestern Ukraine (4%).[1][2] In the country there are communities ofBaptists,Pentecostals,Charismatics,Evangelicals as well asLutherans,Presbyterians, and others. There is also aSub-Carpathian Reformed Church with about 140,000 members, which is one of the earliest Protestant communities in the country.
There are several Pentecostal associations in Ukraine: Ukrainian Pentecostal Church (Trinitarian Pentecostals) andUnited Pentecostal Church International (Oneness Pentecostalism).As of 2016, there are 2,973 Evangelical churches, 2,853 churches of the Baptists, 1,082Seventh-day Adventist churches, 128Calvinist churches, 79Lutheran churches, 1,337 churches ofCharismatic Christianity, and 1,347 other organizations belonging to the Protestant spectrum (including 928 Jehovah's Witnesses' halls and 44 Latter-day Saints congregations).[46] In total, as of 2016, there are 9,799 registered Protestant groups in Ukraine.[46]
Jehovah's Witnesses claim to have 265,985 adherents, as reported in the movement's 2013Yearbook. In 2010the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated itsKyiv Ukraine Temple, and in 2012 claimed a membership more than 11,000 in 57 congregations in Ukraine.[50]
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Islam in Ukraine is the second largest religion after Christianity. Islam has been present in Ukraine for hundreds of years.
Historically, there were two main ways of spreading Islam in Ukraine: the eastern (North Caucasus) and southern (Crimean Khanate and theOttoman Empire).
Islam in Ukraine does not have any special specifics, it did not lead to the emergence of new trends, directions, groups, etc. Muslims in Ukraine overwhelmingly profess Sunnism.
As of 2016,Islam was the religion of 1.1% of the population of Ukraine. Muslims are mostly concentrated in Donbas, where they make up 6.0% of the population.[3] In the same year, there are 229 registered Islamic organizations.[46] InCrimea, which in 2014 was annexed by Russia,Crimean Tatar Muslims constitute as much as 25% of the population. A major part of the south steppes of modern Ukraine at a certain period of time were inhabited byTurkic peoples, most of whom were Muslims since the fall of theKhazar Khanate.
The Crimean Tatars are the only indigenous Muslim ethnic group in the country. TheNogays, another Muslim group who lived in the steppes of southern Ukraine, emigrated toOttoman Empire in the 18th–19th century. In addition, there are Muslim communities in all major Ukrainian cities representing Soviet-era migrants from Muslim backgrounds. There are approximately 150 mosques in Ukraine.
Most of Ukraine's Muslims areCrimean Tatars. Then there areTurks,Chechens,Azerbaijanis,Arabs,Pashtuns.
In Ukraine, there is theSpiritual Administration of the Muslims of Crimea (Crimean Tatars), the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Ukraine and theReligious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine "Ummah".
The size of the Jewish population of Ukraine has varied over time, with current estimates between 100,000 and 300,000.Jews in Ukraine primarily identify as such in an ethnic capacity, with only 35-40% identifying specifically as followers ofJudaism. Ethnic Jews may be irreligious or practise religions other than Judaism. Most observant Jews subscribe toOrthodox Judaism, includingChabad-Lubavitch communities, while others practiceReform Judaism,Conservative Judaism orReconstructionist Judaism.[51]
The largest Jewish communities are inKyiv (RabbiJonathan Markovitch),Dnipro (RabbiShmuel Kamintski), andOdesa (RabbiAvraham Wolf).
Jewish congregations use Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish and Ukrainian languages. As of 2018, religious Jews constituted only 0.4% of the population of Ukraine,[2] with 271 officially registered religious communities.[3]
Buddhism in Ukraine has existed since the 19th and 20th century, after immigration from countries with Buddhist populations, mainlyNorth Vietnam andKorea under Communist period. Although sources are not readily available, Buddhists are believed to constitute 0.1% of the total population in Ukraine. At present, Ukraine is home to 58 formally registered Buddhist communities, but according to religious scientists there are probably 100 communities in Ukraine. The largest Buddhist communities in Ukraine belong to theTibetan tradition. Most widespread are Karma Kagyu communities, of the Kagyu school.[52]
Hinduism is a minority faith in Ukraine. TheInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness managed to propagate theHindu faith through their missionary activities. As of 2018, Hindu believers constituted 0.1% of the population of Ukraine, with a slightly higher proportion in Western Ukraine (0.2%).[2] In 2016, there were 85 Hindu, Hindu-inspired and other Eastern religions-inspired organizations in the country, among which 42 are Krishna Consciousness congregations.[46]
TheSlavic native faith (Rodnovery, Ukrainian: РідновірствоRidnovirstvo, Рідновір'яRidnovirya or Рiдна ВiраRidna Vira; otherwise called Православ'яPravoslavya—"Orthodoxy") is represented in Ukraine by numerous organizations. As of 2016 there are 138 registered communities divided between the Church of theNative Ukrainian National Faith (Рідна Українська Національна Віра, RUNVira)—72 churches, the Ancestral Fire of Native Orthodoxy (Родового Вогнища Рідної Православної Віри)—21 churches, the Church of the Ukrainian Gentiles (Церкви Українських Язичників)—7 churches, the Federation of Ukrainian Rodnovers (Об'єднання Рідновірів України)—6 churches, and other organizations—32 churches.[46]
Lev Sylenko founded the Church of the Native Ukrainian National Faith (RUNVira) in 1966 inChicago, United States, and only opened their first temple in the mother country of Ukraine after thebreakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The current headquarters of RUNVira is inSpring Glen, New York,United States. The doctrine of the Church of the Native Ukrainian National Faith, "Sylenkoism" or "Dazhbogism", ismonist and centered around the godDazhbog.
As of 2018, there were 0.1% Pagan believers in Ukraine, with a higher percentage in Central Ukraine.[2] Sociologists estimated between 1,000 and 95,000 Rodnovers (0.2%) in Ukraine in the early 2000s.[53][54][55]
The most famous temple is located inKhortytsia inZaporizhzhia. According to the beliefs of ancestors, the whole island is a sacred place that has a strong energy. There are still preserved idols and temples. Modern followers of the old faith often visit this place.[56]
As of 2016, there were 241 officially registered churches belonging to various new religious movements (including the aforementioned Hindu groups, theBahá'í Faith,Jehovah's Witnesses), 58 registered Buddhist groups, and various registered churches for national minorities – including two Chinese Taoist churches and one Korean Methodist church, four Jewish Karaite kenas, eight churches for Christian Jews, and 35 churches of Messianic Judaism.[citation needed]
In December 1996, theAll-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations was formed with the objective of uniting around 90–95% of religious communities of Ukraine.[57][58] Since the end of 2003, the Council of Representatives of the Christian Churches of Ukraine exists in parallel to the council to promote the principles of Christianity in Ukraine and religious freedom.[59] Affiliation with either or both of the assemblies is voluntary.
In 2007, the council accounted for representatives of 19 organizations, while in 2013, only 18. The Council of Christian Churches accounted for representatives from 9 churches.
Ukraine's laws guarantee the right of religious freedom, and provide a legal framework for the registration of religious groups. Some religious groups have reported difficulties in legally acquiring property (including property previously confiscated by the government of theSoviet Union) due to discriminatory treatment by local government bodies.[60]
There are ongoing disputes of jurisdiction between theUkrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate and theUkrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate, which split as a consequence of the Russian military invasion of Ukrainian territory. Far-right Ukrainian nationalist groups such asFreedom have assaulted members of the Moscow Patriarchate and otherwise harassed them.[60]
There have been several instances of violence against Jews in Ukraine since 2013.[60]
Vandalism against religious buildings and monuments is common, with many different denominations affected. Jewish and Roman Catholic buildings were among the most targeted.[60]
In territories not controlled by the government of Ukraine, Jehovah's Witnesses have faced persecution by Russian and separatist authorities. Russian media has also frequently denounced Jehovah's Witnesses and the Kyiv Patriarchate as being "pro-fascist".[60]
On 2 December 2022, Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy entered a bill to theVerkhovna Rada that would officially ban all activities of theUkrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) UOC in Ukraine.[61]
In 2023, the country was scored 3 out of 4 for religious freedom by American non-profitFreedom House.[62]
When Constantinople [...] became the Christian capital of the [Roman] Empire – the New Rome – it was natural that the traditions of its see should be re-examined, especially when the pretensions of Old Rome to absolute primacy became more insistent, and its apostolic foundation also made credible. Legends about the missionary journeys of St Andrew, the brother of St Peter and in fact the first apostle to be chosen by Our Lord, were amenable to such an interpretation. [...] Moreover, Andrew's mission-field was stated to be 'Scythia', a vague geographical term in Greek usage which embraces all the northern coasts of the Black Sea from the Danube to the Don. Missionary journeys by St Andrew in the Caucasus also appear in Georgian and Armenian legends. It may be a fact that Andrew visited the Crimea (Khersonnesos), sailing (as was normal) from Sinope. On this basis Russian piety later claimed that he had then sailed up the Dnepr to Kiev and predicted its future glory as a Christian metropolis. Further elaborations of the legend go beyond the credible but this much could be believed by many in Russia. [...] The spread of the legend via its Greek sources [...] probably belongs to the second half of the eleventh century.
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