Kiev, December 24, 2019
orthodixie.com
On January 6, Patriarch Bartholomew handed a tomos of autocephaly to Epiphany Dumenko, the primate of the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” during a service in Istanbul.
Over the months, this decision by the Patriarchate of Constantinople has been hailed as the fulfillment of the Ukrainian people’s centuries-long desire to be separate from the Russian Orthodox Church.
However, according to a recent poll, only 9% of Ukrainians consider the reception of the tomos of autocephaly to be the event of the year. More people chose the national soccer team’s placement in the 2020 UEFA tournament as the most important event.
The “Event and Policy” survey was conducted by the “Rating” sociological group from December 13 to 17 among 2,500 Ukrainians aged 18 and older, from all regions of the country. The margin error is less than 2%.
The event of the year in 2019, according to 48% of respondents, was the release of the Kerch Strait sailors and other political prisoners. The presidential election in March that ousted Petro Poroshenko and ushered in Vladimir Zelensky was the event of the year for 44% of Ukrainians.
Overall, the tomos was the 7th most important event for the respondents. The top 7 events chosen were:
ratinggroup.ua/
48% - release of sailors/prisoners of the Russian Federation
44% - presidential elections
21% - Paris Normandy format summit
15% - parliamentary elections
13% - national soccer team’s placement in the 2020 UEFA tournament
11% - strengthening of the hryvnia
9% - reception of the tomos of autocephaly
The tomos of autocephaly proved most popular in the West, where it received the vote of 16% of respondents. In Central Ukraine it received 9%, in the South—4%, and in the East—3%.
