A survey conducted by Active Group a month ago revealed that two-thirds of Ukranians call themselves "believers" but only a fourth actually attend religious gatherings.
The Christian Telegraph reported that the sociological study "All-Ukranian Omnibus" revealed that 67%, or two out of three, of Ukranians consider themselves believers but only 21.3% actually go to divine services. While 13.1% say they are "not believers" and 2.8% are "undecided."
The data show a decrease of Ukranian believers, as per the Christian Telegraph, because data from the prior year show that 73% of Ukranians consider themselves "believers" in May 2020.
Meanwhile, 33.2% of respondents say they attend church once or twice annually, 19% do not attend at all, 11.6% attend once a month, and 9.7% attend once a week.
The survey also revealed that 13.3% of respondents are undecided on the denomination they belong to, 17.1% are Orthodox Christians of the Kyiv Patriarchate, 27.4% are Orthodox Christians of the Metropolitan Onufriy, 35% Orthodox Christians of the Metropolitan Epiphanius, 5.5% say they do not belong to any faith, and 1.7% are Old Believers.
As per Active Group, the study involved 1,200 respondents from across Ukrain conducted through telephone interviews on April 24-25, 2021 with confidence probability error of 0.95%-2.9%.
The Pew Research Center, a internationally-renowned "fact tank," explained that Ukraine is 78% an Orthodox Christian nation that decided to separate from the Russian Orthodox Church in 2019. The Pew Research Center said this action reflected the major role Orthodox Christianity plays in Ukraine's politics and the continuing military conflict it has with Russia.
Ukraine is said to be 10% Catholic, 7% unaffiliated, and 5% of other faiths. Ukrainians identify themselves as one if they are Orthodox Christians (51%) while some say to be Orthodox means to be Russian (57%).
Meanwhile, the Eureporter said in April that the Ukrainian politics is further dissenting from the Ukranian Orthodox Church as divisions within the church and its identity is causing persecutions from the government.
Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko created an independent church, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, from the Ukranian Orthodox Church in 2019. The president's church has become powerful after winning the support of the Patriarch Bartholomew of Castinople who is known as a "peacemaker of all Christian world."
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine was able to expand after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Bartholomew in October 2020 with his wife. The creation of the new church has left the followers of the Ukranian Orthodox Church persecuted by the government who took over its temples.
"The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for pressure by the authorities. Its followers hoped to end persecution with the new Ukrainian President coming to power. Yet, Zelensky who stayed away from the Church affairs during the first months of his presidential term is taking on the course on further Church dissent started by the former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko," the Eureporter said.
