A joint study by the OPORA NGO and the Kyiv School of Economics, run in September 2024, revealed the highest level of polarization among representatives of different Christian denominations in Ukraine.
According to the research, the greatest social split is observed between believers affiliated with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) on the one hand, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) on the other.
Believers with the OCU and UGCC demonstrate a significantly higher level of social distancing and hostility towards representatives of the UOC than vice versa. In particular, they are most inclined to believe that the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church cannot be trusted.
Instead, representatives of the UOC more often describe believers from the OCU and the UGCC as “dishonest and indifferent”, although in general they show a better attitude towards the rival groups.
Representatives of both groups are the least ready to marry believers of another denomination. The researchers also recorded manifestations of a “cruel” attitude: both groups admit that they rejoice whenever representatives of the opposing denomination are “put in their place.”
It is worth noting that the survey was conducted against the background of active public discussions regarding the ban on the activities of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine, which could affect the outcome of the study.
This level of inter-confessional tension turned out to be the highest among all studied social splits in Ukrainian society, including language differences and attitudes towards internally displaced persons.
