Religious affiliation

Ukraine is traditionally a Christian nation, and the vast majority of its citizens with a declared religious affiliation are Christians. A large proportion of the population, however, does not profess any religious belief, largely as a consequence of the official propagation of atheism during the Soviet era.

The majority of Christians in Ukraine belong to one of three Orthodox denominations: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (3,352 registered communities at the beginning of 2004), the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (1,152 communities) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (10,310 communities – this predominance being a consequence of the fact that in the Soviet era this was the only officially sanctioned Orthodox Church).

Around 4.5 million Christians, mainly in western Ukraine, belong to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (3,328 registered communities), an Eastern (Byzantine)-rite Church which recognises the authority of the Pope of Rome. In Soviet Ukraine this Church was officially banned but continued to exist underground.

In recent years the Roman Catholic Church has been attracting members, mainly in central Ukraine, and now has around 1 million faithful (854 communities).

Other Christians in Ukraine belong to various Protestant denominations, of which the largest are the Baptists (2,693 communities), Pentecostals (1,853) and Seventh-Day Adventists (941).

Of other major faiths, at the beginning of 2004 there were 445 registered Muslim communities, comprising mainly Tatars in the Crimea, and 239 Jewish communities.