RELIGION AND CHURCH OF UKRAINE IN MODERN CONDITIONS

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RELIGION AND CHURCH OF UKRAINE IN MODERN
CONDITIONS
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• 1. Ethnic Structure of the Population in Ukraine.
• 2. Polyconfessions in Ukraine.

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• Ukraine is a polyethnic state. The Ukrainians
  comprises 85 of the population of Ukraine. The
  other nations and nationalities are? Russians.
  Jews. Byelorussians, Moldavians, Roumanians,
  Poles, Bulgarians, Greeks, the Cremean Tatars,
  etc. Its quite clear why Ukraine is
  polyconfessional state.
• Confession presence in Ukraine may be relatively
  divided into traditional, that corresponds to
  ethnic and historic formation of the country and
  non-traditional. The last ones appeared in the XX
  century.

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• The largest religious community in Ukraine is the
  Orthodox Church. Its adherents are the Ukrainian,
  Russians, Byelorussians, Roumanians and
  representatives of other ethnic groups. The
  Orthodox Church consists of the Ukrainian
  Orthodox Church of Kyiv patriarchy, Ukrainian
  Orthodox Church of Moscow patriarchy, Ukrainian
  Autonomous Orthodox Church. They comprise near
  53 of all religious network of Ukraine. Tense
  relations between the branches of Orthodoxy are
  abserved. Sometimes they lead to inter-church
  conflicts. These conflicts are intensified by
  pretensions of Moscow patriarchy and some
  political parties. Orthodoxy has above 11970
  communities.

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• Greek Catholic Church was formed in 1596 in
  Ukraine. It was forbidden by Soviet power in
  1946. Ukrainian Greek-C-Church takes the second
  place after Orthodoxy. Greek-C-Church was
  legalized in 1989. Now it amounts more than 3400
  communities (parishes). Creek-C-Church is widely
  spread in Western regions of Ukraine Lviv,
  Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk and Trans-Carpathians.
  Its activity has been intensified in eastern
  regions too. Greek-C-church renewed its
  structure and formed 16 eparchies, 78
  monasteries, 12 religious educational
  institutions and 22 periodicals from the moment
  of legalization. Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church
  influences on the formation of national
  consciousness, culture, national traditions and
  revival. It educates young generation in the
  spirit of patriotism and self-esteem.

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• Roman Catholic Church exists in Ukraine from the
  XIV century. Now it amounts more than 900
  catholic communities. It has 38 monasteries, 337
  Sunday schools, 11 periodicals. Religious
  college, seminary and Ukrainian Roman Catholic
  University are opened.

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• The churches of Protestant direction unite six
  thousand communities. Protestantism The
  biblical system of faith and practice
  rediscovered by the Reformation in the 16th
  century. The name was originally used I 1529 in
  the Diet of Spires when Luthers supporters
  protested against the repeal of a more tolerant
  edict of 1526, but it soon came to have a wider
  significance. It pointed up two things 1. The
  Reformers protest against the unscriptural dogma
  and practice of Rome 2. Their witness to the
  scriptural truth abandoned by Rome. The basic
  significance of the Latin word protestatio is
  witness, and witness to the truth was the major
  work of the Reformation. The Bible, the Bible
  only, the religion of Protestants, aptly sums up
  this emphasis. The most spread Protestant
  churches are Baptist-Christians, Evangelists,
  Jehovahs witnesses, Seventh Day, Adventists
  Church. The largest among them is the Adventists
  Church.

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• Seventh-Day Adventism movement was organized in
  1860, which grew out of the prophetic teachings
  of William Miller who calculated from Dan. 814,
  on the basis of the Year-Day Theory, that
  Christs return date to earth was in 1843. This
  was later amended to October 22, 1844 and when
  that date passed without the appearance of
  Christ, one of Millers followers, because of a
  vision of Christ standing at the altar in
  heaven, floated the idea that the date had been
  right but that the place had been wrong, for
  Christ rose to cleanse the heavenly sanctuary!
• Seventh-Day Adventism took up this point and made
  it a principal part of their belief. So much for
  the Adventism in the name.
• The seventh-day part arose from the fanciful
  theories of Lames White and this wife Ellen, on
  the message of the three angels in Rev. 146-11.
  These three angels were supposed by their
  messages to symbolize the three parts of the
  genuine movement begun by Miller. Mrs. White,
  who became prophetess of Seventh-Day Adventism,
  held that the third angels message called men to
  honour the seventh-day Sabbath. She based her
  interpretation on another vision, so that the
  entire system ultimately rests on two claimed
  visions.

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• There are many churches of national minorities in
  Ukraine. Trans-Carpathian reformed Church
  (Hungarian) has many followers among Hungarians
  who live in Trans-Carpathian region.
  Reformational doctrines are so close to Orthodox
  Calvinism according to their dogmata. A number of
  Czeches are also the followers of the Reformed
  Church. And a number of Hungarians are the
  followers of Catholicism.

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• Russian Orthodox Old-believer Church was formed
  among Russian immigrants in the XVII century in
  Ukraine. In the first haft of the XIX century the
  so called molokan communities were formed among
  Russian national minorities. They were persecuted
  as the apostates from Orthodoxy in Russia.

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• There is also Judaism religious community. It was
  its followers among the Jews population. There
  are sett5lements of Armenians in Ukraine from the
  XV-XVII centuries. They are united in the
  Armenian Gregorian Apostolic Church and Armenian
  Catholic Church. Among the other national
  minorities there are also the followers of German
  Evangelic Lutheran church, Swedish Evangelic
  Lutheran church, Korean Methodical church, etc.
• Many new religions and cults are spread in
  Ukraine now. They appeared in the sixties of the
  XX century in the USA at first and then in
  Western Europe. From the eighties and nineties
  they have been spread in Ukraine.

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• New religions may be divided into 3 groups
• 1. Cult that appeared on the borrowed ideas of
  Christianity and offers its own way to God. These
  religious communities are Children of God,
  Native Church, The Church of Unification,
  etc.
• 2. Cults that appeared on the basis of Eastern
  believes. They are the movement of Khare
  Krishna, Bahai Religion, etc.
• 3. cults that practise meditation, psychical
  sittings, for example. The Association of
  Transcendental Meditation.
• These new cults do not have great influence on
  religious life (situation) in our country.

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• The most spread among non-traditional cult is
  Krishnaism. Its religious centre is in Sweden,
  Hinduism, Bhaktism, Vishnuism are the sources of
  Krishnaism.
• Native Ukrainian National Religion also belongs
  to non-traditional religions in Ukraine. Its
  adherents appeal to love and understand own God
  and dont worship alien Gods to perfect mind,
  soul and body, to love relatives, to bring up
  children in the spirit of Native Ukrainian
  National Religion.
• The Unification Church is one of the most
  influential, among modern new cults. Its founder
  the Korean preacher San Myan Mun.
• Muns theology is based on the doctrine about
  three Adams and three Eves. Muns religion
  adherents carry out missionary activity.

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• The Organization of Bahai Religion works in
  Ukraine. It appeared in the middle of XIX century
  in Iran. This religion unites 5 million
  adherents. The founder of this religious movement
  was Baha Ullah. In 1863 he was proclaimed as
  the Messiah of all religions. The main dogma of
  Bahai religion the principle of, world unity of
  the humanity. The people must realize that the
  world is the entire country and all people are
  its citizens. The adherents of Bakhai religion
  respect all religions of the world and their
  founders Krishna, Abraham, Zoroastr, Moses,
  Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhamad, Baha-Ullah.

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• Bahaism a syncretistic religion of Persian
  Mohammedan origin with its world headquarters in
  Haifa, Israel. It was founded by Mirza Husayn Ali
  (1818-92) who took the title Baha-ullah, glory
  of God. The myth is that the last true successor
  of Mohammed who disappeared in the 10th century
  never died but lived on, to reappear later to
  fill the earth with justice. Baha-ullah is the
  fulfilment of this purpose, the last in the line
  of prophets Abraham, Moses, Christ and
  Mohammed. Bahaism takes a little from various
  religions, aiming at the unity of all, the
  elimination of war and the evolution of man to
  perfect love. Love is the most frequent word in
  the bahai vocabulary. Unity based on the adoption
  of Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity is
  its aim. Doctrine is not important. Only unity
  and the brotherhood matter. That is its basic
  theology (compore the Symbolo-Fideism of the
  Ecumenical Movement). As a religion, it is far
  removed from Biblical truth, with much in common
  with Spiritism and Theosophy.
• Specifik features of religious organisations in
  Ukraine are their dynamics. All religions are
  provided with the posibility of existence and
  progress.