The majority of Ukraine’s population is Christian. Most of the Christian people living in Ukraine belong to the Orthodox Church.

The Hungarian population of Transcarpathia is also Christian, mainly members of the Calvinist Church.

As 70-75 % of Transcarpathian Hungarians are reformed (Calvinist), actually the Calvinist Church plays the role of the national church. This is illustrated by the popular saying according to which „In Transcarpathia not all of the Hungarians are Calvinist, but all the Calvinist people are Hungarian”.

The Transcarpathian Reformed Church consists of three dioceses. In the Ung (Uzhhorod) diocese there are 22 congregations in which 22,000 believers live. In the Ugocsa (Vinohradiv) diocese there are 29 congregations with 10 ministers and 22,500 believers. In the Bereg (Berehovo) diocese there are 46 congregations with 14 ministers, among them three coming from Hungary (A Kárpátaljai Református Egyház - 1996. Beregszász, 1996, manuscript). The bishop of the Transcarpathian Reformed Church is László Horkai.

The Reformed Church is running three church secondary schools in Transcarpathia. Besides the Reformed Church, the Roman Catholic and the Greek Catholic Churches play an important role in the life of Transcarpathian Hungarians.

The number of the Roman Catholic believers in Transcarpathia is considered to be about 65,000. The great majority of these believers is Hungarian (85 %), 8 % of them is Slovakian and 7 % is German. In January, 1996 Bishop Jenõ Antal Majnek from Hungary was appointed to be head of the Transcarpathian Roman Catholic Church, which was a major step in ecclesiastical policy, because by this a new Roman Catholic episcopacy was formed on the territory of the Orthodox Ukraine.

In 1996 the Greek Catholic Church in Transcarpathia had about 30,000 Hungarian members, its bishop is László Szemedi.

The lack of pastors is a serius problem for all denominations. Over the past few years, however, a limited number of youts from Transcarpathia have been allowed to study at institutions of religious higher education in Hungary. The Roman Catholic Church in Hungary are trying to ease the situation by sending over monk priests (e. g. Report on the situation of Hungarians in the Ukraine).

It has been possible for the Transcarpathian youth to study theology in Hungary since 1988. In the 1995-1996 academic year 45 Transcarpathian Hungarian young people were the students of Hungary’s theological higher educational establishments.