UOC-MP faithful do not believe in persecution

"Faithful of the Moscow Patriarchate do not share the propaganda narrative of persecution, which extends their leadership," said expert Dmytro Horyevoy, commenting on the findings of the Razumkov Centre survey "State and the Church in Ukraine – 2019: annual results and prospects of development of relations."

The expert explained that 78.8% of the faithful of the UOC-MP agreed that complete freedom of conscience and equality of religions before the law reign in Ukraine. According to Horyevoy, this is evidence that the faithful of this Church do not share what the Church hierarchs, official speakers or information sources of the UOC-MP say.

It should also be noted that according to the survey, almost half of the faithful of the UOC-MP (45.5%) believe that Churches and religious organizations abuse their rights and freedoms too much.

On November 14, a large-scale sociological study "State and the Church in Ukraine-2019: the results of the year and prospects for the development of relations" was presented in Kyiv. This took place within the framework of the permanent round table "Religion and power in Ukraine: problems of interaction", which is organized by the Razumkov Center and the Representation of Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Ukraine.

According to the survey, two-thirds of Ukrainians consider themselves believers, but trust in the Church as a moral authority is decreasing. It is also recorded that the number of faithful of the UOC-MP is steadily decreasing.