Expert: 4 times as many UOC believers come to temples in Rivne as OCU's

Service in the Cathedral of the OCU. Photo:facebook.com

On February 14, 2020, at the vespers on the eve of the Feast of the Meeting, the religious scholar Nikolai Mitrokhin conducted a study of the number of parishioners in the temples of the UOC and the OCU in Rivne. He published the results on Facebook.

First, he attended the vespers in the temples of Rivne located in Sobornaya Street.

"Rivne. Western Ukraine. Vespers on the holiday of the Meeting of the Lord in the temples in Soborna Street. The services begin at 5 pm. Fixation starts from 5.50 with a 10-minute lag.

The Holy Resurrection Cathedral (an old cathedral, with the capacity of up to 600 people on both tiers, 39 Sobornaya St.). The lower church – the UOC community – 300 people. The upper church is the community of the OCU – 45 people,” writes Mitrokhin.

At the same time, according to him, the new Holy Intercession Cathedral of the OCU at 6 Sobornaya St., which is calculated for 1.5 thousand people, was attended by 80 parishioners.

Continuing the analysis, the religious scholar writes, “The Holy Assumption temple of the UOC (113 Shevchenko St., a “cossack” temple designed for 150 people) – 32 believers.

The St. George church of the Gorodok Monastery of the UOC (in fact – the UOC Cathedral, the newly built basilica, the bishop’s service) – 180 people (plus a choir for 40 people)

The St. Sophia church of the OCU (a newly-built church for 120 people, 1 Yubileynaya St.) – 20 people

The UOC temple at 7 Koroleva St. (there is no plate with a name, a newly-built church for 1000 people) –155 people.”

He gives the final figures: “UOC – 567, OCU – 145 people, i.e. ¾ Orthodox in this part of the city (from the center to the western outskirts) belongs to the UOC, while ¼ – to the OCU.”

We will recall that a sociologist and religious scholar from Germany, Nikolai Mitrokhin, is conducting a study of the number of parishioners in the temples of the UOC and the OCU. On February 8 and 9, 2020, he visited services at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, St. Theodosius Monastery of the OCU, and the temples of the Darnitsa residential area.

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