Razumkov Center: Majority of Ukrainians believe in God

Most Ukrainians remain believers, although the concept of faith and religion may differ. Thus, 70.4% Ukrainians call themselves believers, although many of them believe that this does not necessarily involve belonging to a particular religion or denomination.

The latest research data were reported by Director of the sociological service of the Razumkov Center Andriy Bychenko during the opening session in Kyiv on May 26.

“In Ukraine, the majority of citizens consider themselves believers regardless of church attendance,” the researcher noted. “ This study, recorded the rate of 70.4%, but fluctuations in religiosity can be caused by household, social and political factors. If we apply certain objective parameters – attendance of religious communities, involving rituals and demonstration of religious behavior - the Ukrainian society includes people for whom to be a believer and be religious are completely different things.”

In addition, soon will mark 20 years from the beginning of a permanent round table "Religion and authority in Ukraine: problems of relations". The organizers are traditionally the Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies named after Olexander Razumkov with Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Ukraine.

According to the latest Razumkov Center’s research, 58% of Ukrainians attend church, and 51.7% of them visit it only for religious holidays. Thus 18% of people go to church once a week, while 17% - once a month. 12% of respondents provide financial support religious communities on a regular basis, while 30.2% do it occasionally.

Unusual is the belief of the country residents that a person can be a believer while not professing a particular religion, of which 63% of respondents are confident. According to Andrew Bychenko, faith is a moral category rather than affiliation with a specific congregation or denomination. However, 50% of citizens believe that religion is important to society.

The most controversial issues are the categories that determine public attitudes to the relationship of the Church, the state and society. Most community 55% certain that the Church should not interfere in government relations. However, 79% of Ukrainian fully convinced that religion has to take responsibility for helping the poor and needy categories of the population if the government's decision would violate their rights.

“When citizens say that the Church should not meddle in politics, it should be further elaborated,” the expert stresses. “I think that the majority still have in mind is that in Ukrainian politics one should always stand on the side of certain parties. That is, in their eyes the Church shall be above the situation, particularly in case of conflicts and offer a constructive way out of the problem as a moral authority. Confidence in religious institutions is still very high and the number of those who trusted them outnumbers those mistrusting, unlike the situation with the state institutions. The more the Church is trying to take sides in terms of politics, the greater is the decline in confidence, although it is over 15 years of research remains at a high level.”