Ukrainian Orthodox Church is losing its dominant position in Ukrainian society, - religious scholar Filipovych

Lyudmyla Fylypovych, a well-known lobbyist for the OCU in the media, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor at the Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, believes that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is losing popularity in Ukrainian society. The religious scholar is convinced that this is indicated by the recent events related to the seizure of the Archangel Michael Cathedral of the Cherkasy Diocese of the UOC and the results of a new sociological study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, according to which the majority of Ukrainians allegedly support the OCU. She spoke about this in an interview with Ukrainian Radio.

“The tectonics of these changes is that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is losing its dominant position in Ukrainian society. It is no longer dominant, and it is no longer the ‘religion of the majority’, I would say so. And this, by the way, is confirmed by the results of a recent survey conducted by KIIS (Kyiv International Institute of Sociology – ed.), where Ukrainians were asked whether they support or oppose state intervention in resolving the conflict within Orthodoxy. What is their attitude to the ban of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) as a foreign agent on our territory?” – Filipovych said.

Filipovych believes that the events that took place in Cherkasy are in no way related to the state’s anti-church policy. The religious scholar accused the Church itself of the aggression against the UOC. She added that such situations occur because the UOC does not want to change.

“It seems to me that the Church should have thought long ago about what is actually happening in society. No matter how we treat sociology, it gives us the general temperature in the ward. And now the temperature is so high that the Church must realize that it is not society that is sick, but the Church itself that is sick. That is, changes are taking place within it, to which Ukrainian society is reacting, perhaps not even in the way the authorities or the state would like to react. Because the authorities and the state want peace, they do not need such radical leaps to the right or left. The state wants everything to be tolerant and calm, to be within the legal framework, to avoid this “muzzling”, gas canisters and everything else. Therefore, on the one hand, yes, society is making a kind of diagnosis, and someone may see this as a verdict against this church. But, on the other hand, we need to think about what this society has become as a result of 2.5 years of full-scale and 11 years of this war in general. It is also polarized. I think it has become intolerant, it wants all issues to be resolved quickly,” – the OCU lobbyist emphasized.