Church, Religion and Religious Identity in Post-Atheist Ukraine (original) (raw)
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Analysis of the Multi-Confessional Religious Situation in Ukraine in the Period from 2000 to 2021
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe
Annotation This study summarizes information regarding features of religious and church-religious selfdetermination of citizens of Ukraine for the period 2000-2021. Ukraine's Western region is traditionally characterized by a high level of religiosity, while the South and East of Ukraine are the least religious. In recent years, the proportion of citizens who do not identify themselves with any of the religions has increased. There is a significant difference between the level of declared religiosity and identification with a particular religious community. As a result of the military events in the East of Ukraine and the war with Russia, the number of believers and Orthodox churches of the Moscow Patriarchate has significantly decreased, while the number of Orthodox Churches of the Kyiv Patriarchate has increased. After receiving Tomos from the Patriarch of Constantinople on December 15, 2018, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine gained more authority in society. However, relations between the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate are characterized by the great tension and conflict, which is expressed at the level of individual communities. Some problems arose during the creation of a unified Orthodox Church in Ukraine, but they did not become critical and did not affect the religious situation as a whole. Only 10% of citizens regularly attend religious services and meetings. The decline in attendance at religious services during the COVID-19 pandemic is accompanied by an increase in parishioner participation via the Internet. Leading churches have a positive attitude towards the use of the latest technologies and instant messengers. The article presents the results of surveys of focus groups. One of these polls testifies to the desire of believers to have changes in terms of religious rituals, in particular, the reduction of time, the understandable language of services and sermons, the introduction of seating in Orthodox churches, or a more modest decoration of churches. However, it has been established that for the growth of temple attendance, it is important not so much to develop a network of places of worship, but to form the interest and motivation of people to visit temples. Unfortunately, the level of recognition of the moral authority of the Church is lower than the level of trust in it. Citizens believe that the largest Ukrainian Churches in their approach to the problems of LGBT communities and other complex issues often take a conservative position that does not meet the requirements of the time, rather than an active position that contributes to solving social problems. Social service and assistance to people, according to the majority of respondents, should occupy a leading place in the activities of the Church. The greatest demand was for psychological assistance and protection of vulnerable groups. The overwhelming majority support the assertion that the Church should be separated from the state and the school from the Church. There is a high level of tolerance among citizens
Religion and belief in Eastern Europe: Preface
2017
This special issue of the social research journal “Culture and Society” contributes to theoretical discussions about the role of religion in public sphere of contemporary societies and provides some new empirical insights. It particularly focuses on the region of Eastern Europe that has seen recent and most significant social, political and economic transformations. The official atheist doctrine of the socialist period was overcome between the years 1989 and 1991 (Gerlach & Topfer 2015). Such change interplayed with public life, while religion and belief found various and different roles in society, usually more apparent. This period enhanced the notion of ‘freedom of religion and belief’ (Gerlach & Topfer 2015). Nonetheless, contemporary societies in Eastern Europe experience a heterogeneous religious landscape. The population’s religious and belief identities grow diverse as we move on in the 21st century. The current makeup of the society also depicts new challenges and controver...
The decline of the communist regime in the late 1980s stimulated decentralizing processes within the Russian Orthodox Church; a final result being the emergence of Eastern Christian Churches in independent Ukraine: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Throughout the next two and a half decades the Ukrainian religious landscape has been simultaneously characterized by sharp conflicts and a search for ways of peaceful coexistence between various confessions; ecumenical initiatives, and asserting one’s “canonicity” against the “schismatic” others; attempts by some Churches to act as civil agencies and national institutions; attempts by the state under President Yanukovych to revive a “state” Church following the Russian model; moves towards a Local Ukrainian Orthodox Church and also towards “Russkii mir” (The Russian World). Crucial issues are — the Churches’ search for their place in the post-Soviet Ukrainian realm and their choices of models for coexistence with Ukrainian officialdom and society. In its approach the article provides a general profile of each Church, examines state policies towards religion and the Church in independent Ukraine, and describes a turning point, that being the Revolution of Dignity’s deep influence on the Churches’ perceptions of themselves and their place in Ukrainian life. Key Words: Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ukrainian society, state-church relations.
Book review 'Religion, Nation, and Secularization in Ukraine'.
Book review of Martin Schulze Wessel and Frank E. Sysyn, editors. Religion, Nation, and Secularization in Ukraine. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies P, 2015. xii, 174 pp. Index. $24.95, paper. Conference papers first published in Journal of Ukrainian Studies, edited by Roman Senkus, guest editors, Martin Schulze Wessel and Frank E. Sysyn, vol. 37, 2012, pp. 1-166.
EVERYDAY RELIGIOSITY AND THE POLITICS OF BELONGING IN UKRAINE
Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine, 2022
Highly visible, vernacular religious practices make the presence of religious institutions in the public sphere in Ukraine possible and influential, even among non-believers, critics, and skeptics. The ongoing presence of clergy, religious symbolism, and religious sentiment in public space in Ukraine and other predominantly Eastern Christian societies creates an “affective atmosphere of religiosity. This atmosphere makes religion a valuable political resource for states that claim to be secular. I argue that an “affective atmosphere of religiosity” allows religion to be secularized into “culture” and “heritage” and therefore remain meaningful even to non-believers and fierce critics of organized religion in predominantly Eastern Christian societies. Analyzing how an affective atmosphere of religiosity forms and becomes politically useful in Ukraine reveals how and why religion became such a powerful undercurrent in the hybrid war with Russia from 2014-2022 and why, after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, there is now a proxy war among religious institutions that mirrors conflicts on the battlefield. Religion plays a key role in defining space as it relates to issues of sovereignty, belonging, and sacredness, which facilitates the “weaponization” and “securitization” of religion to advance political, military, and humanitarian agendas since 2022.