Statistics of the Moscow Patriarchate's influence in Ukraine do not reflect its real support, - OCU spokesman

Archbishop Yevstratiy posted a translation of the interview with OrthodoxTime on his Facebook page.

"There are many religious organizations that are officially established, but in fact, do not work or have very few parishioners. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine embraces about 7,000 registered legal entities. About 11,000 legal entities are registered with the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine. Based on these statistics, the Moscow Patriarchate supposedly has more influence.

However, these statistics do not reflect real support since, according to independent sociological studies, about 25% of Ukrainians associate themselves with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. About 15% consider themselves affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate.

The remaining 30% call themselves "simply Orthodox", mainly in the south and east of the country. In general, about 70% of the population considers themselves Orthodox," the Archbishop explained.