Orthodoxy and Cossack traditions
Zaporozhye was at the crossroads of three faiths - Islam, Orthodoxy and Catholicism.
It is impossible to find another date in the history of Ukraine that had such a profound and diverse impact on the fate of the Ukrainian people: 1492 - the year of the founding of the Cossacks. The first written references to our heroic ancestors date back to this time. They are mentioned in official documents of the Ottoman Empire and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Peculiarities of the genesis of Cossacks, historical tradition, geopolitical and natural conditions of its existence led to the formation of a peculiar Orthodox worldview of the Zaporozhians.
The famous historian Olena Apanovych emphasizes that during the existence of the Zaporizhia Cossacks, the whole world was a believer. Religion was the main form of worldview, and therefore even atheistic ideas took the form of religious sects. National liberation movements, political and military conflicts had a religious character and form.
Religion accompanied a person throughout his life - starting with baptism at birth and ending with communion before death and burial, performed by a priest. Art was built on religious themes, and a large part of the books published at that time had a religious character. The holidays, during which people rested and communicated with their loved ones, were religious.
Therefore, the worldview of the Zaporozhian Cossacks also had a religious character and was outwardly manifested in the traditions of Orthodoxy. Zaporozhye was at the crossroads of three faiths - Islam, Orthodoxy and Catholicism.
the protection of Orthodoxy for the Zaporozhian people came to mean the protection of those rights and freedoms, which the Polish nobility led the offensive. One can agree with M. Markovin's opinion that the observance of the Orthodox faith by the Zaporozhians was influenced, among other things, by the juxtaposition of the claims of the Catholic and Orthodox clergy. The latter, as Markovin wrote, unlike the preachers of the "master's faith", did not limit their authority either in the family, or even more so in the public position, persuading only to act according to conscience.