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Security& Defence NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENCE ¹ 10 2000 Founded and published by: CONTENTS THE UKRAINIAN CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL STUDIES President Anatoliy GRYTSENKO Editor-in-Chief Oleksiy KIRICHENKO This magazine is registered with the State Committee of Ukraine on Information Policy, CHURCH AND SOCIETY IN UKRAINE: PROBLEMS OF RELATIONSHIP registration certificate KB No. 4122 (UCEPS analytical report) . 2 1. THE CHURCH AND RELIGIOUS SITUATION IN UKRAINE . 4 Printed in Ukrainian and English 2. INTER-CHURCH RELATIONS . 29 Circulation: 1500 3. THE CHURCH AND SOCIETY . 40 4. CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS . 60 Editorial office: 9 Prorizna street, apt. 20, Kyiv 01034 Tel.: (380 44) 228-86-87 Tel./fax: (380 44) 244-34-53 ARTICLES e-mail: [email protected] WEB-site: www.uceps.com.ua RELIGION AFTER COMMUNISM: THE DIRECTIONS OF CHANGE VIKTOR YELENSKY . 66 Reprinted and used material must refer to the ATTITUDE OF THE STATE AND SOCIETY TO SECTS AND NEW RELIGIONS National Security & Defence BERTOLD VEIG . 73 The views expressed in this magazine do not CHARISMATIC CHURCHES: A RELIGION OR THE KNOW-HOW OF MAKING ZOMBIES? necessarily reflect those of UCEPS staff KATERYNA SHCHIOTKINA . 78 FAITH AND RELIGION IN LIFE OF THE UKRAINIANS Photos: NADIYA DUDAR, LIUDMILA SHANGINA . 83 DINAU pp. 49, 54, 67, 71, 95, 103; The Ukrainian p. 31; THE CHURCH AND THE ARMED FORCES: PARTNERSHIP OR ABSORPTION? IREX pp. 38, 44, 45, 55, 56, 68, 69. SERHIY SIOMIN . 99 © UCEPS, 2000 Our analytical material can be found in Internet: www.uceps.com.ua THETHE CHURCHCHURCH ANDAND SOCIETYSOCIETY ININ UKRAINE:UKRAINE: PROBLEMSPROBLEMS OFOF RELATIONSHIPRELATIONSHIP The confessional and religious situation in Ukraine is different from that in most post-socialist countries of Central-Eastern Europe. Ukraine has no dominant Church, with which society or its majority could associate itself. Such a situation was condi- tioned by the historic division of Ukraine's territory between states with different cul- tural traditions. So, the confessional and religious situation in Ukraine is determined by factors the majority of which have originated in the country's cultural-historic specificity and the conditions of the transitional period of Ukraine's society. 1. More attention is paid to tradition, which is a consequence of the ruination of the previously established system of values and the search for a new basis for per- sonal and public identification. The turning to tradition was one of the sources for the inter-Orthodox split, and the opposition between Orthodoxy and Greek Catholicism, which was conditioned by the differences in the cultural and historic development of various Ukrainian lands. When applied to the regional historic and cultural specificity (to a large extent connected with the ethnic self-identification of the population in the regions), the religious factor bears a strong potential for con- flict, which can seriously affect social stability. 2. The politicising of Church and religious problems, inter-Church and Church- state relations. Ukraine's society is in the process of a socio-economic and political quest. Opinion polls show the existence of different (and even opposing) public ori- entations, trends and positions with respect to the further development of the Ukrainian state and society. There is no unity as to the future shape of the Ukrainian nation ethnic or political, and therefore, the Ukrainian state the state of the titu- lar nation, or of civil society. There is no clear idea of Ukraine's socio-economic prospects and geopolitical priorities. In this situation, the Church, or, rather, Ukraine's Churches, are viewed by different social groups from purely political posi- tions. Political assessments are made of the Churches' past and of their relations. Therefore, historic prejudice and stereotypes are turning into factors of political real- ity, defining different political and geopolitical orientations for different social groups in Ukraine. Affiliation with a certain Church turns into a factor and indicator of a per- son's political identification and of the Church community itself. 3. The deterioration of the living standards of the majority of Ukraine's citizens, the loss of social perspective. This factor brings about socio-psychological changes: psychological instability, sensitivity, a need for outside support, and an inclination to absorb other people's views. This state of society, which can be called stressful, on the one hand, leads to the loss of trust in traditional social institutes, including traditional Churches; on the other hand, it is conducive to the spread of 2 l UCEPS l NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENCE THE CHURCH AND SOCIETY IN UKRAINE: PROBLEMS OF RELATIONSHIP mysticism and various eschatological teachings, which put the person beyond the framework of social life. 4. Strong pressure by new religious movements. This factor is caused by the active, well-organised and materially supported missionary activity of neo-religious groupings; a certain orthodoxy and social passivity of traditional Churches; the migration of neo-religious trends out of the CIS and Baltic countries, and the lack of legislative limitations on their activity in Ukraine. The spread of new religious trends in Ukraine, on the one hand, leads to contradictions between the neo-religious for- mations and the traditional Churches, and on the other hand, it illustrates the crisis experienced by the traditional Churches. 5. The increase in the level of society's religiosity does not correspond to the degree of public involvement in Church activity, particularly regarding the tradition- al Churches. Sociological surveys of the last decade show that the number of believ- ers has risen significantly, compared to the past. The Church has permanently taken the lead position in ratings of public trust in social institutions. At the same time, the indicator of public trust in Church is much lower than the indicator of public reli- giosity: according to opinion polls conducted by UCEPS, 57.8% of Ukraine's citizens called themselves believers, but only 33.7% indicated their full trust in the Church. The aim of this analytical report was to clear up the status and the nature of rela- tions between the public and the Church, in the context of the prospects of forming civil society in Ukraine. The main tasks included: analysing the status and trends of the development of the Church and religious network, and the relations between Ukrainian Churches over the last decade; definition of the main directions and prob- lems of the Church's activity as a social institute; review of the status and character of religiosity of Ukraine's society and society's attitude toward the Church. The UCEPS analytical report consists of four sections. In the first the basic indicators that describe the status and main trends of the development of section the Church and religious network in Ukraine are presented. It shows that the exten- sive development of religious institutions, characteristic of 1989-1993, is coming to a close: Ukraine has already formed an institutional network of religious organisa- tions, adequate for meeting the religious needs of believers, and further on, this net- work will naturally reproduce itself. In the second the main problems and trends in the development of inter-Church relations in section Ukraine are analysed. Here, conflict zones and the factors of contradiction in rela- tions between different confessions are defined. In the third the main directions of the Church's social activity, the relations between the section Church and the state, the Church and the Armed Forces, the Church and school are reviewed. The level and the nature of religiosity in Ukraine's society, and its attitude to the Church are analysed. In the fourth conclusions were summarised, and proposals on improving legislation governing the section freedom of conscience and religious organisations were introduced; forecasts with respect to the future confessional and religious situation in Ukraine and the rela- tions between the Church and society were made. UCEPS l NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENCE l 3 1.1. THETHE CHURCHCHURCH ANDAND RELIGIOUSRELIGIOUS SITUATIONSITUATION ININ UKRAINEUKRAINE PRESENT STATE AND TRENDS This section presents an analysis of the basic indicators that describe the state of reli- gious institutions in Ukraine: the number and dynamics of Churches and religious entities, their confessional affiliation, and territorial coverage. This analysis is grounds for concluding that today, there is a network of Church and reli- gious organisations1 formed in Ukraine, sufficient to meet the religious requirements of believers. The dynamics of country-wide expansion of particular Churches demonstrates that extensive development of religious environment is over. The growth of Protestant and new religious organisations is outpacing the growth of traditional Churches, while the dom- inance of Orthodoxy, traditional for Ukraine, has been preserved. Virtually all of Ukraine's confessions have their regional structural networks. The centre of religious activity has clear- ly shifted to the western regions of the country, where only 19.7% of the population resides, but nearly 43% of all religious organisations is concentrated. 1.1 THE INSTITUTIONAL NETWORK: Religious organisations BASIC DATA According to the data of State Committee The religious situation is characterised, first of Ukraine for Religious Affairs2 as of the begin- and foremost, by the state and dynamics of ning of 2000, there were 52 creeds,
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