Confessional Affiliation Research Articles

Sweden: multiculturalism and specifics of religious freedom’s realization in secular state

Sweden has a long history of being a monoconfessional state. However, in the 20th – 21st centuries the composition of Swedish society has changed, leading the country into a crisis caused by the policy of ignoring the needs of ethnic and religious minorities. In recent years, multidisciplinary research works have been focused on finding a ground of the current social and political destabilization in this country caused by on-going religion- and ethic-based conflicts between its nationals. Some of them suggest that Sweden is not a secular but a clerical state, others – that there is a gap in its legislation.The author of the article offers another point of view, according to which, the Swedish law enforcer distorts the constitutional and legal meaning of the provisions on religious freedom that occurs under the influence of historical specifics of the development of Swedish law, hence the lack of uniformity in law enforcement practice for the implementation of this fundamental human right.The subject of the study is the norms of the legislation of Sweden, including historical legal acts and documents, as well as relevant court cases and key findings of domestic and foreign research works.Objective: to prove the influence of historical specifics of the development of Swedish law on the current legal enforcement practice under which the distortion of the constitutional and legal meaning by the Swedish law enforcement takes place.Methods: the author employs a combination of general (content-analysis, case-study, formal logical method, generalization etc.) and private scientific methods (formal judicial methods, concrete sociological method of studying state and legal phenomena etc).Results: The obtained results demonstrate that Swedish law enforcement has been given an opportunity for a broad interpretation of constitutional norms. The author identifies the distortion of the constitutional and legal meaning in provisions that provide a special status to followers of the evangelical faith, on the one hand, and a partial ban on religious and ethnic minorities from expressing their confessional affiliation, on the other. The analysis of specifics of the development of Swedish law demonstrates the possible ground of the existing constitutional inequality is the historically discriminatory nature of the legislation in relation to followers of other religious cults. These results can be used as a foundation for future research in the field of realization of religious liberty in multicultural states.

Culinary code of Maslenica (Shrovetide) rites in Belarus and Podlasie

The article aims to research how the culinary code of culture manifests itself in the Shrovetide rituals of Belarus and Podlasie (a region in eastern Poland, where ethnic Belarusians live on the border with Belarus). The tasks are to analyse the names of the festive period whose origin is motivated by the culinary code, to identify Shrovetide dishes, and to characterise the role of feasts in the Shrovetide ritual cycle. The article uses ethnolinguistic methodology. The text is written based on published sources, archival and field materials collected in Belarus and Podlasie. The culinary code is one of the main elements of the Shrovetide ritual cycle: it is used to “program” the prosperity of the peasant household for the coming year and to form the majority of local names of the holiday in Belarus and Podlasie (Maslenitsa, Zapusty, Zapusti, Zagaviny, and their variants). Abundant feasts symbolically influence the prosperity in the next year according to the principles of similarity magic. Throughout Belarus dairy products and pancakes are used as festive Shrovetide food, but in local traditions, other dishes can be considered Shrovetide. The consumption of meat products in the week before Lent has religious and local peculiarities: Catholics, as well as informants whose confessional affiliation is not specified, mostly from western Belarus, consider meat dishes obligatory, while the prohibition of meat consumption is due to the influence of the Orthodox Church and local traditions. In Podlasie, during the 2022–2023 field research, informants made almost no mention of special Shrovetide dishes. The common Polish tradition of eating donuts on Fat Thursday is gradually spreading to Podlasie. Shrovetide feasts in Belarus were more often family and less often friendly-neighbourly, while in Podlasie – vice versa. The feasts remain a characteristic feature of the week before Lent in Podlasie, but dishes do not differ from those on the feasts on other holidays

National-Cultural Specificity of Biblical Idioms

The article investigates the representation features of idioms of biblical origin on the material of various languages. Idioms of biblical origin are regarded as linguocultural and nationally specific units, reflecting the peculiarities of mentality and religious worldview of a particular linguistic culture. The article reveals a number of extralinguistic factors that determine both the universal and specific features of idioms of biblical origin representation in various languages. The factors contributing to the universality of idioms of biblical origin include: 1) the commonality of Christian culture; 2) the influence of the Greek and Latin languages on subsequent translations of the Bible used nowadays. The followings are singled out as extralinguistic factors that determine the specificity of idioms of biblical origin in various languages: 1) the emergence time and dissemination scope of biblical translations; 2) confessional affiliation of a certain ethnic group; 3) peculiarities of national perception of the world and cultural values of a particular linguistic culture; 4) the socio-political system of a particular era or country; 5) mass-media factors. The national-cultural specificity of idioms of biblical origin is manifested in their non-equivalence in a particular language, the quantitative divergence of idioms of biblical origin included into a particular language from a single source, differences in the semantic capacity and meaning of idioms of biblical origin used in each of the languages, the emphasis on certain images and cognitive features activated in idioms of biblical origin, in existance of a set of borrowed idioms of biblical origin from different languages. It should be noted that even universal idioms of biblical origin functioning in different languages can be nationally specific due to the differences in the activated semantic features and figurative components of idioms.

Reinterpretation of Ukrainian apocryphal literature in chronotope

This article is devoted to the linguistic and cultural analysis of the regional peculiarities of Ukrainian apocryphal literature in the context of modern socio-cultural paradigms. Through the concepts of cultural code and intertextuality, the hypotheses that formed the paradigmatic basis of the study are substantiated: first, the apocryphon is a form of cultural code with an immanent semantic field that contains a system of code units (symbolism, allegory, parables, miracles, and apocalyptic images); and second, the apocrypha are open signs and symbolic systems in which texts with different cultural codes coexist. The intertextual relations within this system can then be interpreted as a dialogue of cultures. In this paper, based on criteria such as historical context, confessional affiliation, language, and themes, the regional specificity of the apocrypha of Ukraine's western and eastern regions is determined. Within the framework of the cultural communication theory, the regional peculiarities of transcoding the apocrypha text into a visual work (icons, frescoes) are revealed. The specifics of the spiritual and socio-cultural life of Ukraine's western and eastern regions are explained. The study results show that each regional culture in Ukraine (whether western or eastern) is distinctive and valuable and has its own periods of progress and regression. This argument gives grounds for recognizing the multiplicity of independent but interconnected models of cultural development in Ukraine.

Sociocultural representations of Tuvan youth with unconventional religiosity (sociological experience)

The article analyzes the results of the sociological study "How Tuva Lives" conducted in 2022 by the Department of Ethnodemographic, Religious, and Integration Processes of the Institute for Demographic Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The article focuses on religious youth, followers of Buddhism. Among them, we identified typological groups of "practitioners" and "non-practitioners", which were selected according to indicators of religious self-identification; self-identification by confessional affiliation; interest in eastern, non-traditional religions and teachings; motivation of interest in these beliefs; and incorporation of the practices of these religions and teachings into life activities. Note that the "practitioners" group has all the indicators of non-traditional religiosity, while the "non-practitioners" group does not include the practice of non-traditional beliefs in their life activities. A comparative analysis of the typological groups in terms of the degree of impact of the worldview aspects of non-traditional religiosity on national, ethno-confessional and migration orientations and attitudes was conducted. The results of the sociological search recorded in both typological groups a high level of tolerance toward representatives of other ethnicities and religions. At the same time among the "practitioners" there are two times more positive attitude to marriages with representatives of other ethnicity and three times fewer respondents who have a negative attitude to marriages with a person of another religion. Due to the difficult socio-economic situation in the region, more than half of the young people in the groups studied plan to move to other regions and megacities. Among the "practitioners" almost a third do not plan to return after moving, in the group of "non-practitioners" such respondents are almost half as many. The motivation to move in the typological group "practitioners" is more related to social and domestic orientations (improving housing conditions, getting better education and medical services, the opportunity to travel), and the group "non-practitioners" - to socio-professional difficulties (finding work in the specialty, increasing wages, career growth).

The Doctrine of Three Types of Being in the Russian Theological-Academic Philosophy in the 19th Century

The article is devoted to the analysis of the theological-academic ontological doctrine of the three types of being formulated within the framework of the Russian theological-academic philosophy of the 19th century. The study of this problem in the context of the general analysis of the phenomenon of theological-academic philosophy allows expanding our understanding of the genesis of Russian philosophy and its religious-philosophical component. The main aim of the article is the historical-philosophical analysis (on the material of philosophical courses of Russian theological academies and original works of professors of academies) of the doctrine about three types of being, which was developed within the framework of the theological-academic philosophy in Russia in the 19th century. The set goal is achieved by means of textual and religious analysis methods, as well as historical-functional, historical-genetic, and comparative research methods. The authors conclude that the specificity of theological-academic philosophizing was determined by confessional affiliation and consisted in its theistic form: the transversal theme of all theological-academic interpretations was the problem of being. Thus, theological-academic ontology took the form of the doctrine of God as an absolute being and the world as its derivative. The theological-academic doctrine of the three types of being and the synthesizing function of the absolute in relation to theological and material being cannot be characterized as quite logical and consistent. The notion of God as an absolute being is conditioned by the aspiration of theological-academic philosophers not to go beyond traditional orthodoxy and is one of the main specific features of theological-academic philosophical interpretations of religious consciousness. At the same time, the historical and philosophical analysis of the works of professors from Russian theological academies allows tracing how the powerful ideological and theoretical potential accumulated in Russian theological academies after their reforms in the 19th century contributed to the development of professional philosophy in Russia, the development of a philosophical categorical apparatus and the systematic formation of Russian philosophical thought. The development of this theme responds to the urgent research tasks of the history of philosophy. Further, this topic is very interesting not only for historians of philosophy but also for historians of religion, historians of orthodoxy, and culturologists.

Formation of Ethnic Identity of Mari People in Absence of Single Mari Literary Language

This study is devoted to the history of the formation of the ethnic identity of the Mari people in the Republic of Mari El. Particular attention is paid to the changes in the identification of Mari, which occurred in direct proportion to extralinguistic factors. The question of the role of language, confessional affiliation, historical past, relations with nature and mythological symbols that characterize the modern ethnic Mari identity is considered. The importance of the demographic imbalance in the Republic, which played the most significant role in shaping the character of the Mari, is emphasized. The relevance of the study is due to the increased interest of science in recent decades in the topic of ethnic and Russian identity. The identity of the Mari people has not been previously studied by the author of this work, although many problems of Mari El have been analyzed and described in detail: the language situation in different time periods, language policy, the legislative framework regarding languages and the education system, the history of the Mari literary language, its writing and a number of other sociolinguistic aspects. Unlike articles by other authors on the topic of Mari identity, the novelty of this work lies in the fact that for the first time the identity is shown in the process of formation, from antiquity to the present day. A characteristic of the identity of the Mari people, formed under the influence of a variety of factors, is compiled.

The Role of the Danish Church in the Fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Significance of This Experience for the Russian Federation

The social responsibility of religious organizations in modern conditions is reflected in a variety of activities carried out by religious institutions and differ depending on both the confessional affiliation of these institutions and the specific structural territorial unit where they take place. The presented work is devoted to a detailed analysis of the peculiarities of the manifestation of one of the directions of social responsibility of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark (ELCD), associated with minimizing the consequences of COVID-19 on the example of its individual dioceses. The dioceses characterized by the highest proportion of adherents in the population structure (Diocese of Viborg, Ribe, Aalborg and Lolland-Faster) were selected to clearly reflect the trends taking place. The subject of the study is the social activities of the ELCD to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19 for parishioners, the features of the implementation of which are considered on the example of structural units at the regional level. The article substantiates the increased importance of the ELCD in the development of the region, since the designated institution largely assumes the social obligations of the state (duplicates several functions) in connection with the risks of the spread of coronavirus infection. To achieve the goal, methods of analysis of factual and economic-statistical information, comparative comparison were used. The experience of a religious organization in dealing with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is of interest to the public, government bodies and authorities, as well as religious organizations in other countries. The results of the study can be useful in developing a strategy for the development of state-religious relations in Russia, where there are trends of strengthening the social and economic role of religious organizations.

Ethnic and confessional culture of Mordovian students (based on the materials of the Internet survey)

Introduction. The article summarizes the results of a study of the ethnic and confessional culture of Mordovian students. The objectives of the study were to identify the degree of preservation of individual components of ethnic culture among Mordovian students; to analyze of the level of their religiosity and affiliation to the local church; to study the degree of influence other cultural systems on their worldview. Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the study was the Internet survey. The total of 100 Mordovian students took part in the survey: 63 people from the Republic of Mordovia (Mordovian State Pedagogical University) and 37 people from the Ulyanovsk region (Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University). Results and Discussion. The article describes the ideas of Mordovian students about sacred places and national heroes, the proficiency in the national language, the perception of the national language as a native language, the existence of a festive and ritual culture, religiosity and confessional affiliation, religious behavior and religious beliefs, etc. It reveals and interprets the influence of living in the multicultural region on a significant proportion of people who recognize non-Mordovian as their native language, and on the syncretization in the mass consciousness of respondents of holidays of different genesis: international, Russian national, Christian, national public, and Mordovian national holidays. Conclusion. An analysis of the materials of the Internet survey allows to conclude that, in general, Mordovian students are characterized by a positive attitude towards Mordovian culture. The interest of the respondents is especially noticeable when answering questions that refer to ethnic self-consciousness issues that have more symbolic than practical/everyday meaning. Although Mordovian students consider themselves Orthodox Christians, their religious culture is no less diverse, a significant part of which is integrated to varying degrees in the culture of Orthodoxy. At the same time, some Mordovian students are not without occult influence.

The veneration of the Ostrobram icon of the Mother of God in the context of Lithuanian identity

The history of the creation and veneration of the image of Our Lady of Ostrobram is studied as a reflection of the processes of the forming Lithuanian national identity in its dynamics over several centuries. The author analyzes how the icon reflects the main ethnic markers, which include: territory, confessional affiliation, language, historical memory, ideas about the past and the future. Theories of the origin of the image and disputes about its confessional affiliation led to the idea of the formation of interconfessional dialogue and unity in diversity as a marker of the border and frontier zone. Within the framework of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which united the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, the Ostra Brama was perceived as «Strażniczką Kresów», or the guardian of the eastern borders. The preserved historical songs, psalms and hymns dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Vilna emphasize the regional identity. However, at the same time, powerful integration processes in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth led to the assertion of Polishness, which was reflected in fiction, where until the 1920s and 1930s the Ostrobram image was perceived as an integral symbol not only of Polish culture, but also of Polish history and statehood. As the conducted research has shown, the intensified aspirations of the local population for the rooting, the use of the national language and the political processes of the Lithuanian national revival led to the transformation of ideas about the image, which in the 20th century gradually becomes a symbol of Lithuanian rather than Polish. Nevertheless, it is still uncertain whether the Ostrobram Mother of God has become the state symbol of Lithuania as a nation or it remains the guardian of the local original culture and traditions.

The conception of Living Tradition in the context of the life and work of Jaroslav Pelikan

The article considers the issue of the formation of the idea of a Living Tradition in the scientific and social activities of the American scientist Jaroslav Pelikan (1923–2006). In the life and intellectual path of a scientist, three stages — early, middle and late ones — are conditionally identified. The article shows that the concept of Living Tradition is the result of the development of two sides of Pelican’s life and that the study of the Christian tradition can lead to a change in confessional affiliation. Particular attention is paid to the middle and late periods of his intellectual and spiritual searches, at the stage of which the scientist discovers the heritage of the Ancient Church. The article also highlights the Pelikan’s theological features of the conception of the Living Tradition. Through the idea of a Living Tradition, the scientist reconciles the continuity of the tradition of the Church and the changes within this continuum. The article shows that the conception of Living Tradition is closely connected with the idea of catholicity and continuity of the Church. The author claims that, firstly, the Pelikan, in the idea of Tradition, adopted the language of representatives of the Catholic school of Tubingen and the Orthodox Neo-Patristic school. At the same time, the theological thought of J. Pelikan continues to move within the strict framework of the set research goal — historical research and justification of continuity and changes in the Church. It is also shown that J. Pelikan’s views on the conception of Living Tradition are largely dictated by his correspondence polemic with his predecessor A. von Harnack. In addition, the article concludes that the Pelikan in his understanding of Tradition is not so sensitive to the Divine within Tradition, understood as the action of the Holy Spirit in the Church. At the end of the article, it is demonstrated that at the late stage of his work, Pelikan fails to fully solve the problem of Tradition. This research can be useful for everyone who is interested in the life and work of modern theologians and Christian historians.

«Другие» протестанты — смена религиозной идентичности

In this article, the author attempts to reveal some aspects related to the transformation of the confessional identity of members of Protestant religious organizations operating in the Southern, Middle and Polar Urals and identifying themselves as representatives of “other” ethnic groups that are not widespread in Russia. The article presents data on the confessional identity of the respondents and on the factors that contributed to their adoption of Protestant Christianity. The research materials allow us to conclude that the religious identity (or lack of it) of the respondents before coming to Protestantism is close to that of the respondents from the general sample in the Urals; most of all among the “other” Protestants were atheists or non-denominational theists who “simply” believed in God. Most of all, both among “other” Protestants and among believers from the general sample of those who came to Protestantism with the assistance of close people who enjoy the greatest trust: friends, parents, relatives and spouses. Domestic and foreign missionaries, as well as members of religious communities personally unknown to the respondent, played an insignificant role in the religious choice of the respondents from both samples. The data presented in the article demonstrate that the confessional affiliation (or lack of it) of the respondents before they adopted Protestantism, as well as the factors contributing to the acquisition of their religious identity by Protestants, do not depend on ethnic identity.

Cultural Security in the Context of the Analysis of the Religiosity of Belarusian Students

Religion can become an instrument of manipulation and destabilization in society, everything depends on people who have access to the levers of power, the position of Church hierarchs and the level of religious literacy of the population. The article is devoted to the study of the concept of the correlation of national identity and Christian universalism, as well as the model of Church–State relations in the modern social teaching of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the context of the analysis of some aspects of the religiosity of the Belarusian student youth, namely quantitative indicators of trust in the Church, attendance of divine services, and confessional affiliation.

The Role of Greek Merchants in Russian Foreign Trade in the XVIII Century

The article is devoted to trading activities of Greek merchants in the Russian Empire in the XVIII century. The authors aim to determine the geography of supply chains and the product range, to give specific examples of foreign trade transactions of Greek merchants and to determine their profitability. The authors show the numerous risks and dangers that accompanied the trading activities of Greek merchants during the period in question, including fraud, robbery and armed attacks on caravans. Notably, the confessional affiliation of Greek entrepreneurs and their status as an ethnic "minority" may have had an ambivalent effect on their commercial activities. On the territory of the Ottoman Empire, this brought additional risks to their commercial activity. In the Russian Empire, by contrast, such factors could lead to economic and financial support of the Greek diaspora by the government. The Russian government also acted as arbitrator in resolving property disputes between Greek businessmen. The commercial and communicative skills of the Greek merchants enabled them to act as effective intermediaries in the Russian Empire's trade with countries of the East and contributed to creation of the Greek diaspora's positive image in Russian society. The activities of individual representatives of the Greek diaspora led to the introduction of technological innovations in their production processes.

Социологический анализ вероучения и социальной организации новых религиозных движений в России

This article describes and analyzes the dogma and social organization of new religious movements (NRM) according to the author’s classification. The classification was created on the basis of such criteria as the NRM interaction with society and traditional religions, geography, dogma and legal status. The final analysis characterizes the movements which activities are prohibited or restricted in Russia. As a result, it is believed that Jehovah’s Witnesses is a neo-Christian old foreign (incorporated) alternative NRM of the first wave, opposite to the social order. The Church of Scientology is a syncretic (eclectic) foreign (incorporated) reformation NRM of the second wave, adapted to the social environment, the Church of the Last Testament is a syncretic (eclectic) domestic alternative NRM of the Christian type of the first wave. The history, dogma, rituals and practices, social organization, hierarchy, the number of members, current state, relationship with the social environment and legal status are considered. In conclusion, it is noted that the problem of describing the characteristics of NRMs is still widely discussed due to the confessional affiliation of researchers and the variety of NRMs.

Religious identity of population of Belarus depending on a type of locality and confessional affiliation

The a rticle presents a n a nalysis of religious identity depending on the t ype of locality, region, confessional affiliation, age of respondents. Global trends are taken into account, which affects identification processes, secularization urbanization, religious diversity in large cities, and leads to the formation of a special type of urban culture, characterized by the simultaneous decline and growth of religious consciousness, blurring the boundaries of the religious and non-religious way of life of citizens. Based on the data of a sociological survey conducted in 2021 by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, a comparative analysis of the confessional, religious structure of various population groups has been carried out, the level of trust in the main Christian churches has been revealed. The conclusion has been made about the specifics of the own way of development of the Belarusian society, which is characterized by wide opportunities for worldview and identification choice in large cities, where a certain part of the inhabitants consider themselves free from religious influences.

The revival of the celebration of the Siberian Day in Tyumen (Features and problems of translation the intangible heritage)

The article deals with the features and problems of translation the intangible heritage on the example of Siberian Day in Tyumen. In 2011 the creators of the Ermak Timofeevich’s organization revived the holiday in the Tyumen region, which was established in Russia about 150 years ago. The organisers have implemented the modern forms of contact with the youth and developed interest to the history and culture of their region. The children's creative competition “You, Siberia, my hands will embrace” — is the main event of Siberian Day in Tyumen. Siberian Day creates a direction for positive sociocultural processes for the each Siberian, not depending on ethnocultural, political, confessional affiliation. To sum up the 11-year history of the holiday, we can note its important educational role. The success of the project is confirmed by the constant significant growth in the number of participants in the competition (from 180 to 3000), benefactors and numerous positive reviews.

Ислам в Томском Приобье от XIII к XVIII веку – от гипотез к реальности

Objective: The article deals with the question of the time of the spread of Islam in the Tomsk region of the Ob basin. It not only analyzes the early date of the penetration of Islam (the thirteenth century), but also the events related to the integration of Western Siberia into the Russian state. Moscow’s policies toward the aboriginal population was flexible and considered the complexity of the ethnic picture of the annexed lands. After a relatively short time, the population of the region was split into two worlds – Christian (Orthodox) and Islamic. Research materials: The archaeological complexes of this period demonstrate this process and, considering the scarcity of the written sources, allow us to clarify the time and place of the population’s initiation into new religions. However, it is necessary to take into account all the nuances, and all the materials available for analysis, in order not to create a false idea of historical processes, and to succumb to the desire to push the spread of Islam in this region to a more distant past. Determination of the confessional affiliation of the deceased cannot be limited to two features, and it is necessary to consider both the global canons of Islam and its Siberian regional peculiarities. My report is based on the materials of the excavations of the Tojanov Gorodok burial ground of the famous national archaeologist M.P. Gryaznov in 1924. Results and novelty of the research: Based on the analysis of the available materials the following conclusion is made: this site cannot be considered “one of the earliest Islamic sites in the Lower Tom basin”. It is a burial site of the pre-Muslim period. The circumstances related to the spread of Islam are as follows: although it is possible that Islam penetrated the region as early as the thirteenth century, the formation of Muslim communities occurred in the seventeenth century, after Western Siberia became part of the Russian state.

Review of the article: Makarov, Alexey D. “Circulation of St. Isaac of Nineveh’s Ascetic Homilies Outside the Church of the East. Part Two: Interpolation of Personal Names”. Theological Herald, 2021, no. 2 (iss. 41), pp. 164–207. DOI: 10.31802/GB.2021.41.2.008

Alexey Dmitrievich Makarov's article is the second part of his research devoted to one of the topical issues of the present time - the confessional affiliation of the Rev. Isaac the Syrian.

Національно-релігійний склад населення Львівського повіту (1918– 1939)

National-religious relations in Eastern Galicia during the interwar period have long attracted the attention of researchers. The first works on the following problem appeared immediately after the first official census conducted by the Polish government in 1921.The authors of it questioned the veracity of its results. Despite certain politicization of national-religious relations, the military structures of interwar Poland were almost the only ones that tried to realistically assess the demographic situation and political sentiment in the region, as it was an important component of ensuring the army's combat capability and defense capabilities of the country. The article attempts to analyze the national and religious composition of the population in Lviv county and its evolution during the interwar period. The source base of the study was the officially published results of the Polish censuses of 1921 and 1931, the Austro-Hungarian censuses of 1880–1910, as well as statistical materials found in the Archive of New Acts in Warsaw and the Central Military Archive (Warsaw, Poland). The analysis of the sources allowed to trace the change of the population quantity in the majority of settlements of Lviv county by nationality and confessional affiliation, and also to characterize the preparation and conduct of both censuses, and Ukrainian attitude to them.