Prosecutor’s Office Calls Religious Situation In Crimea Stable

14.05.2002, 19:44

The religious situation in southern Ukrainian Crimea “is stable and to a great extent predictable.” So reported the press service of the Crimean Prosecutor’s Office on 8 May 2002. This conclusion was arrived at after a check was run on the local administration to ensure that legislation on relations between religious groups has not been violated. The office gave a detailed update on the area’s religious situation.

According to the Crimean Prosecutor’s Office, at the beginning of 2002, there were 972 religious organizations functioning on the peninsula, among them 947 religious communities and 48 religious groups and denominations. There are also 58 religious communities that are not registered. Crimea has observed a considerable increase in religious organizations, with 84 new organizations emerging throughout 2000 and 2001. Since 1991, the number of religious organizations in Crimea has increased 14 times. The largest single denomination is Orthodoxy, with 402 communities, among which 373 parishes belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). There are also 204 Protestant communities. The number of Islamic communities has grown significantly, reaching 69 over the last two years. There are 723 religious ministers working in Crimea, but practically all religious groups and denominations face the problem of training their ministers. Throughout the years of Ukraine’s independence, the number of active religious buildings in Crimea has grown from 30 to 432, with over 80% of religious buildings already returned to religious organizations. The total number of churches owned by communities is 280, among which 152 are currently used. Using their own funds or with foreign financial backing, religious communities have erected 80 new churches on the peninsula. However, Crimea is still confronted with a lack of churches and religious buildings, ranking very low on this criterion compared to the rest of Ukraine. The press service of the Crimean Prosecutor’s Office also reported that interest in what it calls “exotic cults” in Crimea has been decreasing. Law-enforcement departments keep watch over religious groups which it says show features of totalitarianism and are considered destructive all over the world. It was also pointed out that, after a number of court cases against leaders of satanic groups, their activities have been substantially hampered. This year, no cases of desecration of Christian sacred places or cemeteries were registered in Crimea.

Source: www.interfax.ru