The SSERF reported on the number of Ukrainian Orthodox Church congregations re-registered since 2018

The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience reported on how many communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been re-registered to the OCU since 2018. According to the published data, most of the UOC communities were re-registered to the OCU in 2022 and 2023. This was reported by Interfax-Ukraine.

According to the response of the State Ethnic Policy to the request of Interfax-Ukraine, since 2018, when the OCU was created, the subordination in canonical and organizational matters to the religious centers (administrations) of the OCU was changed in 2018 — two religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; in 2019 — 319 communities; in 2020 — 30; in 2021 — 25; in 2022 — 496; in 2023 — 471; since the beginning of 2024 — 159 communities. The total number of re-registrations amounted to 1502 religious communities.

At the same time, the department noted that it does not have information on the number of liquidated religious organizations of the UOC.

According to the report of the State Ethnic Policy on the network of religious organizations, as of January 1, 2024 (according to the regional state (military) administrations), there were 10,919 religious organizations of the UOC in Ukraine, including 51 religious centers/management, which include 10,586 communities (6,037 of them legal entities) and 214 monasteries (104 women’s and 110 men’s); 34 brotherhoods; 17 religious educational institutions (11 secondary and six higher).

As for the OCU, as of January 1, 2024, there were 8,295 religious organizations in Ukraine, including 56 religious centers/management offices, which include 8,075 communities (3,400 of them are legal entities) and 87 monasteries; 16 fraternities; 26 religious educational institutions (13 secondary and 13 higher).

As a reminder, Oleksandr Sagan, a lobbyist for the OCU, head of the Department of Religious Studies at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences, said that due to the scandalous bill No. 8371, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, aimed at banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the UOC risks losing about three thousand churches, which are used by the Church as architectural monuments on a lease basis.