"It's Not Really That Bad": Head of the State Commission on Religious Affairs Assesses the Level of Interreligious Conflict in Ukraine

Viktor Yelensky, chairman of Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), described the state of inter-Orthodox relations in the country as “far from dramatic.”

The official emphasized that the current disagreements among believers are neither deep-seated nor violent. Citing data from various sociological studies, including surveys by the Razumkov Center and SOCIS, Yelensky stated that only 8% of citizens report the existence of religious tensions. According to him, relations between ordinary parishioners of the UOC and the OCU remain “absolutely normal.”

Viktor Yelensky also commented on the process of church communities transferring to the jurisdiction of the OCU. The head of the State Agency for Religious Affairs noted that these transfers occur on a regular basis and, in the overwhelming majority of cases, take place without conflict. He cited the communities in Pervomaisk and Sednev as examples of a stable situation.

It should be noted that at the meeting of the World Council of Churches, held in Johannesburg (South Africa) from June 18 to 24, the reviewed the situation regarding the church conflict in Ukraine. In particular, at the initiative of the Russian Orthodox Church delegation, information was conveyed to the general public regarding a recent attempt to seize the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Chernivtsi, where priests and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were beaten by supporters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.