Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
is the predominant religion in Ukraine, with 85% of the population identifying as Christian according to a 2022 survey conducted by the
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS; , КМІС) is a Ukrainian organization conducting sociological research in the fields of social and socioeconomic research, marketing research, political research, health studies, and research con ...
(KIIS). Seventy-two percent of the population avowed fidelity to an
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
: 54% of Ukrainians proclaimed adherence to the
autocephalous
Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...
Orthodox Church of Ukraine
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (; OCU), also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is an Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on .
Some of the Eastern Orthodox Churche ...
; 14% identified as
Orthodox Christian without specifying a church affiliation; 4% associated with the
Moscow Patriarchate
The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus (), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the title of the Primate (bishop), primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). It is often preceded by the honorific "His Holiness". As the Ordinar ...
. Another 9% of Ukrainians professed devotion to the
Catholic Church in Ukraine: 8%
Ukrainian Greek Catholics and 1%
Latin Catholics. Two percent of the population declared affiliation to a
mainstream
Mainstream may refer to:
Film
* ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film
Literature
* ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine
* Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher
* ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso
* ...
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
Church, and a further 2% identified with some
alternative sect of Christianity.
Ten percent of Ukrainians identified as
atheists
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
. With
Christianity in Ukraine overwhelmingly predominant, representative statistical samples of the population surveyed by KIIS in 2020, 2021, and 2022 reported 0% of respondents identifying with
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
and
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. An older survey by the
Razumkov Center
Razumkov Centre (), or fully the Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies named after Olexander Razumkov (), is a Ukrainian non-governmental public policy think tank.
Overview
The Razumkov Center carries out research in domestic, econ ...
in 2018 estimated
Jews in Ukraine at 0.4% of the population, with smaller 0.1% minorities following
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
,
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and
Paganism
Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
(
Rodnovery
The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery and sometimes as Slavic Neopaganism, is a modern Paganism, modern Pagan religion. Classified as a new religious movement, its practitioners hearken back to the Slavic paganism, historica ...
).
Sample of 2,018 respondents aged 18 years and over, interviewed 23–28 March 2018 in all regions of Ukraine except Crimea and the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. 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.
Sample of 2,018 respondents aged 18 years and over, interviewed 25–30 March 2016 in all regions of Ukraine except Crimea and the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
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 of Donbas
The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...
.[ Another religion that is present in Ukraine besides Christianity is ]Rodnovery
The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery and sometimes as Slavic Neopaganism, is a modern Paganism, modern Pagan religion. Classified as a new religious movement, its practitioners hearken back to the Slavic paganism, historica ...
(Slavic native faith), which comprises Ukrainian- and Russian-language communities (some Rodnover organizations call the religion (), thus functioning in homonymy with Christian Orthodox churches).[Kolesnychenko, Tetiana.]
Non-Christian Orthodox believers
. Den' (День), day.kyiv.ua, 28 November 2006. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...
professing Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
represent a significant part of the population in Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
, which prior to 2014 was a subject of Ukraine, but has been since that year occupied by Russia. As of 2016, without Crimea, where Muslims formed 15% of the population in 2013, only Donbas maintains a larger community of Muslims compared to other Ukrainian regions (6%).[
Since before the outbreak of the ]war in Donbas
The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...
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 the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, 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". Ukraine's government will specifically examine the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and ban any activities relating to pro-Russian movement.
History
In pre-historic times and in the Early Middle Ages, the territories of present-day Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
supported different tribes practising their traditional pagan religions (though note for example the Tengrism
Tengrism (also known as Tengriism, Tengerism, or Tengrianism) is a belief-system originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on shamanism and animism. It generally involves the titular sky god Tengri. According to some scholars, adherents of ...
of Old Great Bulgaria
Old Great Bulgaria (Medieval Greek: Παλαιά Μεγάλη Βουλγαρία, ''Palaiá Megálē Voulgaría''), also often known by the Latin names ''Magna Bulgaria'' and ''Patria Onoguria'' (" Onogur land"), was a 7th-century Turkic noma ...
in present-day Ukraine in the 7th century. Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...
Christianity first became prominent about the turn of the first millennium. Later traditions and legends relate that in the first century CE the Apostle Andrew himself had visited the site where the city of Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
would later arise.
In the 10th century the emerging state of Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,.
* was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
came increasingly under the cultural influence of the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
. The first recorded convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, Saint Olga, visited Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
in 945 or 957. In the 980s, according to tradition, Olga's grandson, Vladimir, had his people baptised in the Dnieper River
The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
.
This began a long history of the dominance of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ruthenia
''Ruthenia'' is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin, as one of several terms for Rus'. Originally, the term ''Rus' land'' referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine. ''Ruthenia' ...
, a religious ascendancy that would later influence both Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
and Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. Domination of Little Russia
Little Russia, also known as Lesser Russia, Malorussia, or Little Rus', is a geographical and historical term used to describe Ukraine.
At the beginning of the 14th century, the patriarch of Constantinople accepted the distinction between wha ...
by Great Russia
Great Russia, sometimes Great Rus' ( , ; , ; , ), is a name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and later the Tsardom of Russia. This was the land to which the e ...
(from 1721) eventually led to the decline of Uniate Catholicism (officially founded in 1596 during Polish rule) in the Ukrainian lands under Tsarist control.
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
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 neighbouring Khazar Khaganate
The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a Nomadic empire, nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukra ...
. From the 13th century Ashkenazi Jewish
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
presence in Ukraine increased significantly. In the 18th century a new teaching of Judaism originated and became established in the Ukrainian lands – Hasidism
Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a Spirituality, spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most ...
.
The Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...
(which adopted Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
in 1313) and the Sunni Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
(which conquered the Ukrainian littoral in the 1470s) brought Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
to their subject territories in present-day Ukraine. Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...
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 of Soviet rule ( 1917–1991) the governing Soviet authorities officially promoted atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...
and taught it in schools, while promoting various levels of persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
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.
Demographics
As of 2022, according to a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS; , КМІС) is a Ukrainian organization conducting sociological research in the fields of social and socioeconomic research, marketing research, political research, health studies, and research con ...
(KIIS), 85% of Ukrainians identified as Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
. 72% identified themselves with Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
, 9% to the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
(8% Eastern Catholic
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
, 1% Latin Church
The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...
) and 4% adherents of a Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
Church or other Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
movement.
Approximately 3 in 5 Ukrainians (58%) reported affiliation with one of the major Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
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 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. The July 2022 KIIS survey found only 1 in 25 of Ukrainians (4%) identified with the Ukrainian 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 in Eastern Ukraine
Eastern Ukraine or East Ukraine (; ) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts (provinces). Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are often also regarded as ...
at 6%, only slightly above 3-5% reached elsewhere in the country. Likewise, among ethnic Ukrainians
Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...
, there was little variance: 3% of Ukrainian-speakers, 4% of bilingual Ukrainians, and 6% of Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
-speakers identified with the UOC-MP; only rising to 13% among Russian-speaking ethnic Russians
Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...
living in Ukraine.
Conversely, in 2022 more than half of Ukrainians (54%) identified with the autocephalous
Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...
Orthodox Church of Ukraine
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (; OCU), also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is an Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on .
Some of the Eastern Orthodox Churche ...
(OCU), up from 42% in 2021 and 34% in 2020. OCU identification was most predominant in Central Ukraine
Central Ukraine (, ) consists of historical regions of left-bank Ukraine and right-bank Ukraine that reference to the Dnieper River. It is situated away from the Black Sea Littoral North and a midstream of the Dnieper River and its basin.
The ...
(59%) and Southern Ukraine
Southern Ukraine (, ) refers, generally, to the territories in the South of Ukraine.
The territory usually corresponds with the Soviet economical district, the Southern Economical District of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The region ...
(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%).
Consequent upon the sharp decline in UOC-MP affiliation, in 2022 the Catholic 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 the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...
. Catholics were heavily concentrated in Western Ukraine
Western Ukraine or West Ukraine (, ) refers to the western territories of Ukraine. There is no universally accepted definition of the territory's boundaries, but the contemporary Ukrainian administrative regions ( oblasts) of Chernivtsi, I ...
, where more than 1 in 4 Ukrainians (28%) identified with Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, compared to only 1-2% elsewhere. Catholic identity was also highest (14%) among Ukrainian-speaking ethnic Ukrainians
Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...
.
A 2018 survey conducted by the Razumkov 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% were atheists
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and a further 3.7% found it difficult to answer the question.
About 67.3% of the population declared adherence to one or another strand of Orthodox Christianity
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
(28.7% of the Kyiv Patriarchate, 23.4% just Orthodox, 12.8% of the Moscow Patriarchate
The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus (), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the title of the Primate (bishop), primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). It is often preceded by the honorific "His Holiness". As the Ordinar ...
, 0.3% Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; (UAPTs)) was one of the three major Eastern Orthodox churches in Ukraine in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, together with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) ...
, and 1.9% other types of Orthodoxy), 7.7% just Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
, 9.4% Ukrainian Greek Catholics, 2.2% Protestants
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
and 0.8% Latin Catholic
The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches in full communion w ...
. Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
was the religion of 0.4%; while Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, Paganism
Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
and Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
were each the religions of 0.1% of the population. A further 11.0% declared themselves non-religious or unaffiliated.
Among those Ukrainians who declared to believe in Orthodoxy, 42.6% declared to be members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate
Ukrainian may refer or relate to:
* Ukraine, a country in Eastern Europe
* Ukrainians, an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine
* Demographics of Ukraine
* Ukrainian culture, composed of the material and spiritual values of the Ukrainian peopl ...
, while 19.0% declared to be members of the Ukrainian 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.[
]
Beliefs
Beliefs and religions
Religions by year
Religions by region
Religions by oblast
A February 2015 survey by Razumkov Centre, SOCIS, Rating
A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of a metric (e.g. quality, quantity, a combination of both,...).
Rating or rating system may also refer to:
Business and economics
* Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness ...
and KIIS gave the following data at oblast level:["Religious preferences of the population of Ukraine". Sociology poll by](_blank)
Razumkov Centre, SOCIS, Rating
A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of a metric (e.g. quality, quantity, a combination of both,...).
Rating or rating system may also refer to:
Business and economics
* Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness ...
and KIIS about the religious situation in Ukraine (2015)The survey sample was 25000 people, excluded Crimea, so 1000 people for oblast.
Types of Orthodoxy
Current religious denominations (2020-2022)
Denomination by region (2022)
Denomination by language and ethnicity (2022)
Christianity
As of 2022, 85% of the population of Ukraine professed belief in Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
.
Eastern Orthodoxy
According to the same survey, 72% of the total population adhered to Orthodox Christianity
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
. Orthodoxy comprises about three-quarters of the population in Eastern (74%), Central (76%), and Southern Ukraine
Southern Ukraine (, ) refers, generally, to the territories in the South of Ukraine.
The territory usually corresponds with the Soviet economical district, the Southern Economical District of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The region ...
(79%), whereas Orthodoxy makes up the lowest proportion of the population in Western Ukraine
Western Ukraine or West Ukraine (, ) refers to the western territories of Ukraine. There is no universally accepted definition of the territory's boundaries, but the contemporary Ukrainian administrative regions ( oblasts) of Chernivtsi, I ...
(59%).
From 1992 to 2018, there have been three Orthodox churches active in the independent Ukraine following the dissolution of the USSR
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Dissolution'', a 2002 novel by Richard Lee Byers in the War of the Spider Queen series
* Dissolution (Sansom novel), ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), by C. J. Sansom, 2003
* Dissolution (Binge no ...
:
* the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP; (UPTs-KP)) was an Orthodox church in Ukraine, in existence from 1992 to 2018. Its patriarchal cathedral was St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv.
After its unilateral declaration ...
(UOC-KP),
* the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; (UAPTs)) was one of the three major Eastern Orthodox churches in Ukraine in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, together with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) ...
(UAOC), and
* the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), commonly referred to by the exonym Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), is an Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was officially formed in 1990 in pla ...
(UOC-MP).
The UAOC and the UOC-KP were not recognized by other Orthodox churches and were considered 'schismatic'.
On 11 October 2018, the excommunications of the UAOC and the UOC-KP were lifted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen Autocephaly, autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. ...
, the Ecumenical Patriarchate also announced it would grant autocephaly to the Orthodox faithfuls in Ukraine. 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. The Ecumenical Patriarchate declared that it recognized the sacrament
A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...
s performed by the UOC-KP and the UAOC as valid.
On 15 December 2018, members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP; (UPTs-KP)) was an Orthodox church in Ukraine, in existence from 1992 to 2018. Its patriarchal cathedral was St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv.
After its unilateral declaration ...
, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; (UAPTs)) was one of the three major Eastern Orthodox churches in Ukraine in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, together with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) ...
, and parts of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), commonly referred to by the exonym Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), is an Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was officially formed in 1990 in pla ...
, voted during an unification council through their representatives (bishops) to unite into the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (; OCU), also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is an Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on .
Some of the Eastern Orthodox Churche ...
on the basis of complete canonical independence. They elected their primate, Epiphanius, and adopted a charter for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (; OCU), also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is an Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on .
Some of the Eastern Orthodox Churche ...
during the same unification council. On 5 January 2019, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan Epiphanius celebrated a Divine Liturgy in St. George's Cathedral in Istanbul; the tomos granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (; OCU), also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is an Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on .
Some of the Eastern Orthodox Churche ...
was signed thereafter, also in St. George's Cathedral.
On 27 May 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) formally cut ties and declared independence from the Russian Orthodox Church. On August 20, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...
banned the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine by adopting the . Ukrainian religious organizations affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church will be banned 9 months from the moment the issues the order, if this religious organization does not sever relations with the Russian Orthodox Church in accordance with Orthodox canon law. This prohibition did not extend to Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
in general, contrary to what some online claims asserted.
Orthodox Church of Ukraine
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". The church uses Ukrainian as its liturgical language.
Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Prior to 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was a constituent part of the Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
(the Moscow Patriarchate). The UOC, like most Orthodox churches in Eastern Europe, predominantly uses Church Slavonic
Church Slavonic is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...
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.
On 27 May 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church formally cut ties and declared independence from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Other Orthodox Christian jurisdictions
Other Orthodox communities in Ukraine include:[
* the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church and other ]Old Believers
Old Believers or Old Ritualists ( Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...
* the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (), also called Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia or ROCOR, or Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Pat ...
* the Ruthenian Orthodox Church
* various branches of the True Orthodox Church
True Orthodox church, True Orthodox Christians, True Orthodoxy or Genuine Orthodoxy, often pejoratively "Zealotry", are groups of traditionalist Eastern Orthodox churches which since the 1920s have severed communion with the mainstream Eastern Ort ...
-Catacombism (including the Ruthenian True Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian True Orthodox Church and the Church of the Goths)
* the Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...
(Metropolis of Bessarabia
The Metropolis of Bessarabia (), also referred to as the Bessarabian Orthodox Church, is an Autonomy (Eastern Orthodoxy), autonomous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan bishopric of the Romanian Orthodox Church, situated i ...
)
* the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Canonical
Oriental Orthodoxy
Armenian Apostolic Church
Adherents of Oriental Orthodox Christianity
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian tradition. Oriental Orthodoxy is ...
in Ukraine are mainly ethnic Armenians
Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
. Historical ties between peoples of Ukraine and Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
have resulted in significant presence of Armenian diaspora
The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...
in Ukraine throughout history and up to the modern times. Most of ethnic Armenians in Ukraine
Armenians in Ukraine (; ) are ethnic Armenians who live in Ukraine. They number 99,894 according to the 2001 Ukrainian census.[Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...](_blank)
, one of main churches of the Oriental Orthodoxy
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian tradition. Oriental Orthodoxy is ...
, distinctive from Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
in terms of particular miaphysite 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 in Armenian Cathedral of Lviv, and also there are many Armenian churches and other monuments on the territory of Ukraine.
Catholicism
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...
Eastern Catholicism is the religion of 9% of the population of Ukraine as of 2022. This church is largely concentrated in Western Ukraine
Western Ukraine or West Ukraine (, ) refers to the western territories of Ukraine. There is no universally accepted definition of the territory's boundaries, but the contemporary Ukrainian administrative regions ( oblasts) of Chernivtsi, I ...
, where it gathers a significant proportion of the population (28%). Latin Church
The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...
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.
As of 2016, there are 4,733 registered Catholic churches, among which 3,799 belong to the Ukrainian and Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church
The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, also known in the United States as the Byzantine Catholic Church, is a '' sui iuris'' (autonomous) Eastern Catholic particular church based in Eastern Europe and North America that is part of the worldwide ...
es and 933 belong to the Latin Church.[
]
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church traditionally constituted the second largest group of believers after the Christian Orthodox churches. The Union of Brest
The Union of Brest took place in 1595–1596 and represented an agreement by Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Ruthenian portions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to accept the Pope's authority while maintaining Eastern Orthodox liturgical ...
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 Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk
Sviatoslav Shevchuk (; born 5 May 1970 in Stryi, Ukrainian SSR) is a Catholic Church in Ukraine, Ukrainian Catholic prelate who has served as the Ukrainian Catholic Major Archeparchy of Kyiv–Galicia, Major Archbishop of Kyiv–Galicia and P ...
is the present head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The church uses Ukrainian as its liturgical language.
Latin Church
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.
Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church
Main concentrations of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church are in Trans-Carpathia near the Hungarian border. This community has multiple ties in Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
and the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
Protestantism
As of 2022, Protestants make up 2% of the population of Ukraine, with the strongest concentration in Western Ukraine
Western Ukraine or West Ukraine (, ) refers to the western territories of Ukraine. There is no universally accepted definition of the territory's boundaries, but the contemporary Ukrainian administrative regions ( oblasts) of Chernivtsi, I ...
(4%). In the country there are communities of Baptists
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
, Pentecostals
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term ''Pentecostal'' is derived ...
, Charismatics, Evangelicals
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...
as well as Lutherans
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...
, Presbyterians
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
, and others. There is also a Sub-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) and United Pentecostal Church International
The United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) is a Oneness Pentecostal denomination headquartered in Weldon Spring, Missouri. The United Pentecostal Church International was formed in 1945 by a merger of the former Pentecostal Church, Inc. ...
(Oneness Pentecostalism
Oneness Pentecostalism (also known as Apostolic Pentecostalism, Jesus' Name Pentecostalism, or the Oneness movement) is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian branch of Pentecostalism, Pentecostal Christianity that emphasizes the absolute oneness o ...
).
As of 2016, there are 2,973 Evangelical churches, 2,853 churches of the Baptists, 1,082 Seventh-day Adventist
The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...
churches, 128 Calvinism, Calvinist churches, 79 Lutheranism, Lutheran churches, 1,337 churches of Charismatic Christianity, and 1,347 other organizations belonging to the Protestant spectrum (including 928 Jehovah's Witnesses' halls and 44 Latter-day Saints congregations). In total, as of 2016, there are 9,799 registered Protestant groups in Ukraine.
Other denominations
Jehovah's Witnesses claim to have 265,985 adherents, as reported in the movement's 2013 ''Yearbook''. In 2010 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ukraine, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated its Kyiv Ukraine Temple, and in 2012 claimed a membership more than 11,000 in 57 congregations in Ukraine.
File:Реформатська церква (Ужгород) P1360752 пл. Жупанатська, 5а.jpg, Reformed Church in Uzhhorod
File:The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Lviv (02).jpg, The meeting house of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lviv
File:Shchyretska Street, Lviv (3).JPG, Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Lviv
Islam
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
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 the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
).
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
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
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. In the same year, there are 229 registered Islamic organizations. In Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
, which in 2014 was annexed by Russia, Crimean Tatars, 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 by Turkic peoples, most of whom were Muslims since the fall of the Khazars, Khazar Khanate.
The Crimean Tatars are the only indigenous Muslim ethnic group in the country. The Nogais, Nogays, another Muslim group who lived in the steppes of southern Ukraine, emigrated to Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
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 are Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...
. Then there are Turkish people, Turks, Chechens, Azerbaijanis, Arabs, Pashtuns.
In Ukraine, there is the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Crimea (Crimean Tatars), the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Ukraine and the Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine, Religious Administration of Muslims of Ukraine "Ummah".
Judaism
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 of Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
. Ethnic Jews may be irreligious or practise religions other than Judaism. Most observant Jews subscribe to Orthodox Judaism, including Chabad, Chabad-Lubavitch communities, while others practice Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism or Reconstructionist Judaism.
The largest Jewish communities are in Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
(Rabbi Jonathan Markovitch), Dnipro (Rabbi Shmuel Kamintski), and Odesa (Rabbi Avraham Wolf).
Jewish congregations use Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish and Ukrainian languages. As of 2018, religious Jews constituted only 0.4% of the population of Ukraine, with 271 officially registered religious communities.[
]
Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
in Ukraine has existed since the 19th and 20th century, after immigration from countries with Buddhist populations, mainly North Vietnam and Korea 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 the Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan tradition. Most widespread are Karma Kagyu communities, of the Kagyu school.
Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
is a minority faith in Ukraine. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness managed to propagate the Hindus, Hindu 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%). In 2016, there were 85 Hindu, Hindu-inspired and other Eastern religions-inspired organizations in the country, among which 42 are Krishna Consciousness congregations.[
]
Paganism and native faith
Paganism, Pagans
The Slavic Native Faith, Slavic native faith (Rodnovery, Ukrainian: Рідновірство ''Ridnovirstvo'', Рідновір'я ''Ridnovirya'' or Рiдна Вiра ''Ridna Vira''; otherwise called Православ'я ''Pravoslavya''—"Orthodoxy") is represented in Ukraine by numerous organizations. As of 2016 there are 138 registered communities divided between the Church of the Native 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.[
Lev Sylenko founded the Church of the Native Ukrainian National Faith (RUNVira) in 1966 in Chicago, United States, and only opened their first temple in the mother country of Ukraine after the history of the Soviet Union (1985–1991), breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The current headquarters of RUNVira is in Spring Glen, New York, ]United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The doctrine of the Church of the Native Ukrainian National Faith, "Sylenkoism" or "Dazhbogism", is monism, monist and centered around the god Dazhbog.
As of 2018, there were 0.1% Pagan believers in Ukraine, with a higher percentage in Central Ukraine. Sociologists estimated between 1,000 and 95,000 Rodnovers (0.2%) in Ukraine in the early 2000s.
Native places of power
The most famous temple is located in Khortytsia in Zaporizhzhia. 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.
Other religions
As of 2016, there were 241 officially registered churches belonging to various new religious movements (including the aforementioned Hindu groups, the Bahá'í Faith in Ukraine, Bahá'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.
Ecumenism: All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations
In December 1996, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations was formed with the objective of uniting around 90–95% of religious communities of Ukraine. 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. 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.
Religious freedom
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 the Soviet Union) due to discriminatory treatment by local government bodies.[''International Religious Freedom Report 2017,'' US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. ]
There are ongoing disputes of jurisdiction between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP; (UPTs-KP)) was an Orthodox church in Ukraine, in existence from 1992 to 2018. Its patriarchal cathedral was St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv.
After its unilateral declaration ...
and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate, which split as a consequence of the Russian military invasion of Ukrainian territory. Far-right Ukrainian nationalist groups such as Svoboda (political party), Freedom have assaulted members of the Moscow Patriarchate and otherwise harassed them.
There have been several instances of violence against Jews in Ukraine since 2013.
Vandalism against religious buildings and monuments is common, with many different denominations affected. Jewish and Roman Catholic buildings were among the most targeted.
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".
On 2 December 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entered a bill to the Verkhovna Rada that would officially ban all activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), commonly referred to by the exonym Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), is an Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was officially formed in 1990 in pla ...
UOC in Ukraine.
In 2023, the country was scored 3 out of 4 for religious freedom by American non-profit Freedom House.Freedom House website, Ukraine page, retrieved 2023-08-08
/ref>
Gallery
File:Андріївська церква DJI 0181.jpg, alt=, St Andrew's Church, Kyiv
File:80-391-9007 Kyiv St.Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery RB 18.jpg, alt=, St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery
File:St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral, Kyiv 8.jpg, alt=, St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church, Kyiv, St. Nicholas Church, Kyiv
File:46-101-0548 Lviv Latin Cathedral RB 18.jpg, alt=, Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Lviv
File:Кафедральний костел Святої Софії 1.jpg, alt=, Saint Sophia Cathedral, Zhytomyr
File:Костел Святого Миколая у Кам'янську.jpg, alt=, Church of St. Nicholas, Kamianske
File:Суми Костел.jpg, alt=, Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sumy
File:Львівський Собор Святого Юра.jpg, alt=, St. George's Cathedral, Lviv
File:Faine misto-11.jpg, alt=, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ternopil
File:Mariupol mosque in winter 3.jpg, alt=, Sultan Suleiman Mosque, Mariupol
See also
*History of Christianity in Ukraine
*History of the Jews in Ukraine
*Religions by country, Religion by country
* Catholic Church in Ukraine
*Protestantism in Ukraine
*Ukrainian Bible Society
*Islam in Ukraine
Notes
References
External links
Religious-Information Service of Ukraine
{{Religion in Europe
Religion in Ukraine,
History of religion in Ukraine