ДИНАМІКА РЕЛІГІЙНОСТІ У СУСПІЛЬСТВАХ СХІДНОЇ ЄВРОПИ: СПРОБА СТРУКТУРУВАННЯ РІЗНОМАНІТТЯ

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to our understanding of religious dynamics in Eastern European socie- ties by relating religious change to denominational structures of respective societies. It draws on data from three waves of the European Values Study (EVS II, EVS III, and EVS IV). The analysis is based on three indicators: self-evaluation of one’s religiosity level, religious service attendance frequency, and affiliation with a dominant denomination. In this study, a denomination is considered dominant in a particular society if its share of affiliates (as declared in surveys) is larger than a respective share of any other denomination. The analysis reveals that Eastern European societies with prevailing Catholic identity had a decrease in the share of people who attend church once a month or more often. At the same time, a share of religious people and Catholics in such societies either decreased or remained the same. On the contrary, Eastern European societies with prevailing Orthodox identity show an increase in self-reported church attendance, the share of those who consider themselves religious, and those who declare Orthodox affiliation. Moreover, data reveals an increase in the share of Orthodox population in Latvia and Estonia, where none of the denominations outnumbers others at a statistically significant level. In Latvia, a share of people with Orthodox identity increased almost three times while in Estonia almost four times.