As of today, there are over 10,000 communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in Ukraine, reported Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience. He noted that this number includes communities located in temporarily occupied regions, while there are about 8,000 in controlled territories. This is nearly the same as the number of communities in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).
This is reported by Kyiv24
According to Yelensky, since receiving the Tomos, that is, since 2019, more than 1900 communities in Ukraine have made the choice to join the OCU. “In total, since the receipt of the Tomos (the recognition of the single local autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2019 – ed.), more than 1900 communities have transitioned to the OCU,” he stated.
Regions with the Highest Number of Transitions and Specific Situational Features
The largest number of religious communities that have joined the OCU has been recorded in the Volyn, Kyiv, and Khmelnytskyi regions. Meanwhile, the situation is more complex in the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Donetsk, and Kherson regions. Yelensky explained that in regions with active combat operations, the transition of communities to the new church occurs significantly less, as there are more pressing concerns.
“Because where active combat operations are taking place, transitions are not a priority”
As part of the process of strengthening the independence of the church, in August 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law No. 3894-IX “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Activities of Religious Organizations,” signed by President Zelensky. This document has been referred to as the “law prohibiting the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine” and provides for a ban on the activities of the church associated with the Russian Federation.
Members of Parliament reported that nine months after the law’s adoption, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), which has ties to the Russian church, will be banned. The deadline for communities to voluntarily exit the UOC (MP) is May 20.