ORTHODOX BELIEVERS IN UKRAINE DECLINE
Portal-credo.ru, 1 August 2008
The state Committee on Affairs of Nationalities and Religions of Ukraine has noted a decline in the number of believers professing Orthodoxy in the country. This was stated by the chairman of the committee, Professor Alexander Sagan, in an interview with the "Ukraina moloda" newspaper.
"The situation for Orthodoxy in Ukraine really is not very bright. Even if we talk about the number of parishes, it is quietly declining," Alexander Sagan emphasized. He said that in western Ukraine this is connected with the vigorous migration of the population.
Speaking of the situation in eastern Ukraine, Alexander Sagan noted that there the role of protestantism is increasing in its turn. At the same time the chairman of the state committee on religions thinks that the number of registered church societies is substantially distinguished from the real number of believers and that is being used by some politicians for manipulation.
"We have one picture relative to the registration of church societies and another for the real picture of the quantity of believers themselves. This inconsistency permits some 'politicians of the church' to manipulate the figures and deceive people for the achievement of certain goals," he noted.
In Alexander Sagan's opinion, the creation of a single local church in Ukraine also would make manifest the decrease of the number of Orthodox believers. At the same time he noted that today in the world Orthodoxy is "the greatest source of believers for other confessions," but Ukraine still is an exception to this rule. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 August 2008)
Source: http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews