Survey: Greatest dislike among OCU & UGCC parishioners is to UOC believers

The heads of the OCU and the UGCC. Photo: glavcom

In Ukrainian society, the greatest distance is between the parishioners of the OCU and UGCC on the one hand, and representatives of the UOC on the other. According to the study “(Dis)connected: polarisation in Ukrainian society” conducted by the public network “OPORA”, the OCU and UGCC treat UOC believers with great dislike.

It is noted that the assessment of the UOC representatives by OCU and UGCC reps is close to the assessment 3 (which indicates a rather noticeable antipathy), while the latter assess the parishioners of the OCU and Greek Catholics much better.

The greatest distance can be noticed in the question about the marriage of one of the relatives with a representative of the opposite group. In this question again one can observe a somewhat worse attitude of the OCU and Greek Catholics to the UOC.

Also, the parishioners of the OCU and Greek Catholics are most inclined to believe that the UOC faithful are not trustworthy. UOC representatives more often believe that the OCU and Greek Catholics are dishonest and indifferent.

In addition, the study notes that the survey coincided with the period of active discussions about the adoption of the law on the de facto ban of the UOC, which could affect the views and reactions of respondents.

The survey was conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology from 11 to 30 September 2024 by online interview method. The survey included 2,055 interviews, of which 1,855 were conducted among Ukrainians in the territories controlled by the Ukrainian government, and 200 among citizens who travelled abroad with the onset of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.

As the UOJ wrote, a cleric of the OCU said that he decided to leave the UOC after attending an ethno-festival.

Read also