Only 28.5 percent of Ukrainians say they know what a tomos is. Some 75 percent either do not know what it is or have difficulty saying, according to a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) commissioned by NGO Detector Media.
Of those who know what a tomos is, 43.5 percent learned it from media, from religious leaders – 19 percent, from speeches of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko – 17.4 percent, from politicians – 15.9 percent and from other people – 11.5 percent.
More people living in Ukraine’s western regions (43 percent) know what a tomos is than in central Ukraine – 30 percent and eastern Ukraine – 16-18 percent.
The KIIS poll was conducted from Sept. 8 to 23 on an order by the non-government organization Detector Media with the financial support of the Danish Foreign Ministry.
A total of 2,026 respondents from all the regions of Ukraine except for Crimea and the territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are beyond the control of the Ukrainian authorities participated in the poll. The sampling error does not exceed 3.3 percent.
A tomos is a small book that contains a major announcement or similar text promulgated by a holy synod, such as a grant of autocephaly.
