More than half of Ukrainians positive about OCU creation, tomos – KIIS survey
KYIV. May 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – More than 54% of Ukrainians positively assess the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and it receiving the tomos on autocephaly. This is based on results of a survey, titled "Confessional structure of the population of Ukraine and creation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church: May 2019," conducted by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
"Some 54.2% of respondents are positive about the creation of the OCU and it receiving the tomos on autocephaly. A neutral position is expressed by 31.2%, while 10.9% expressed a negative attitude. Some 3.6% found it difficult to answer the question, Deputy Director of KIIS Anton Hrushetsky said during a presentation of survey results at the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Wednesday.
Among respondents who are positive or neutral about the OCU's creation and tomos, 64.5% believe that the conditions defined in the tomos are sufficient for the development of an independent Ukrainian church and that is impossible to refuse it. At the same time, 8.8% of respondents believe the conditions are negative for the OCU and that is necessary to abandon the tomos and restore the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP). Some 26.7% could not or would not answer the question.
More than half of Ukrainians, 50.6%, said that the provision of the tomos is more likely to unite the society, while 30.5% said it would foment division in Ukraine. Some 18.9% could not or would not answer the question.
Some 39.6% of respondents positively assess the election of Epiphanius as OCU head, while 43% are neutral and 6.8% are negative. Some 10.6% of respondents could not or would not answer the question.
Asked who, Epiphanius or UOC-KP head Filaret, should have been elected to head the OCU, 36.5% said Epiphanius, 15.5% said Filaret and 2.2% said someone else. Some 45.9% could not or would not answer the question.
KIIS conducted a nationwide public opinion poll from May 12 to18, 2019, using the CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviews) method based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (selecting respondents by quota). Some 1,200 persons living in all regions of Ukraine (except Russia-occupied Crimea) took part in the survey. The sample is representative for the population of Ukraine over 18 years old.
In Luhansk and Donetsk regions, the survey was conducted only in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. The margin of error is 2.9%