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State policy makers: since 2018, 1.5 thousand religious communities moved from UOC to OCU

The largest number of communities transferred in 2022 - 496.

State policy makers: since 2018, 1.5 thousand religious communities moved from UOC to OCU
Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epifaniy
Photo: EPA/UPG

Since 2018, 1,502 religious communities have moved from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom reported in response to an inquiry from Interfax-Ukraine. 

According to the response, since 2018, when the Orthodox Church of Ukraine was established, the subordination in canonical and organisational matters to the religious centres (administrations) of the OCU has changed:

in 2018 - two religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)in 2019 - 319 communitiesin 2020 - 30in 2021 - 25;in 2022 - 496in 2023 - 471since the beginning of 2024 - 159 hromadas.At the same time, the agency noted that it does not have information on the number of liquidated religious organisations of the UOC (MP).

According to the report of the State Ethnic Policy on the network of religious organisations, as of 1 January 2024 (according to regional military administrations), there were 10,919 religious organisations of the UOC (MP) in Ukraine, including 51 religious centres/management offices, which include 10,586 communities (6,037 of them legal entities) and 214 monasteries (104 women's and 110 men's); 34 brotherhoods; 17 religious educational institutions (11 secondary and six higher).

As for the OCU, as of 1 January 2024, there were 8,295 religious organisations in Ukraine, including 56 religious centres/management offices, which include 8,075 communities (3,400 of them legal entities) and 87 monasteries; 16 brotherhoods; 26 religious educational institutions (13 secondary and 13 higher).

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