Ministry of Culture confirms UOC has almost twice as many parishes as OCU
The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy responded to a media inquiry about the number of religious communities of the OCU and the UOC.
In Ukraine, there are 7,097 religious organizations belonging to the OCU structure, and 12,410 – of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is stated in the response of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy received on December 28, 2020, to the request of Radio Liberty.
“For the conduct of divine services, the religious organizations of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine used 5299 cult and prayer buildings: 3673 religious buildings and 1626 rooms adapted for prayer. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, in unity with the Moscow Patriarchate, numbered 12,410 religious organizations, which had in their use 11,157 religious and adapted for prayer buildings, including 7804 religious buildings and 3353 rooms adapted for prayer,” the resource quotes the Ministry of Culture.
The ministry also noted that they do not have data on the activities of religious structures operating in the Crimea and in the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions not controlled by Ukraine.
As Radio Liberty clarifies, the statistical report referred to in the ministry contains data as of 01.01.2020, which were first made public in order No. 1657 of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine dated 14.04.2020.
As reported, earlier Epiphany Dumenko called the OCU the largest religious organization in Ukraine.
