Metropolis of Kiev (Patriarchate of Moscow)

This article is about the metropolis that transferred from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to the Patriarchate of Moscow (1686-present). For other metropolises with similar names, see Metropolis of Kiev.

The Metropolis of Kiev is a metropolis of the Eastern Orthodox Church that was transferred to the Patriarchate of Moscow in 1685. From 988 AD until 1596 AD, the mother church of the Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' had been the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Moscow Patriarchate was a Caesaropapist entity that was under the control of the Russian state.[1] While nominally ruled by a metropolitan bishop, since its inception, the secular authorities of the Tsardom of Russia altered the territorial remit of the Kyiv metropolis, stripped it of its suffragan sees and transformed the office from an ecclesiastical province to an archbishopric to an honorific or empty title.[2]

Following the Russian Revolution, it became an exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was transformed into the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) with a degree of independence in the territory of the modern state of Ukraine.[3] The primate of the UOC-MP — Onufriy[4] — is styled the "Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine". It is a matter of debate as to whether the UOC-MP has full ecclesial independence (autocephaly) or merely enjoys extended autonomy while ultimate control continues to reside in Moscow.[5]

It is also a matter of dispute as to whether Moscow abided by the terms of the transfer from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople: it is the contention of Constantinople and of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) that the terms were breached and that the de facto transfer is no longer de jure or canonical; Moscow denies this claim and considers the OCU to be schismatic. According to the ROC, the 1686 Synodal Letter of the Ecumenical Patriarch gave Moscow the right to ordain the Metropolitan of Kiev. According to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, this act was firstly conditional upon Moscow preserving the traditional rights of the metropolitan[6] and secondly did not affect the authority of Constantinople as the mother church of the metropolis. In this respect, both Constantinople and the OCU regard Moscow's subsequent actions as uncanonical. On 11 October 2018, the "Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate" revoked the Synodal Letter (Act) of 1686.[7] On 5 January 2019, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople signed the tomos that granted the OCU autocephaly.[8]

  1. ^ Bainton, Roland H. (1966), Christendom: A Short History of Christianity, vol. I, New York: Harper & Row, p. 119
  2. ^ Billington, James H. (1966), The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretive History of Russian Culture, New York: Random House, p. 67
  3. ^ "К 20-летию Благословенной Грамоты Святейшего Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Алексия II о даровании Украинской Православной Церкви самостоятельности в управлении / Статьи / Патриархия.ru". Патриархия.ru.
  4. ^ Metropolitan Onufriy of Chernivtsi and Bukovina elected head of Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) Archived 2014-08-13 at the Wayback Machine, Interfax-Ukraine (13 August 2014)
  5. ^ Dmytro Horevo (2023-01-04). "The Russian Orthodox Church does not recognize the independence of Ukraine or the independence of the UOC". Radio Free Europe (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-01-06.
    "The Charter of the UOC does not contain any provisions that could even hint at the connection with Moscow — the Head of the Legal Department". Official website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). 2022-12-31. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
    "The UOC priest protested his inclusion in the ROC Publishing Council". Official website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (in Ukrainian). 2022-12-31. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  6. ^ "Οἰκουμενικόν Πατριαρχεῖον". ec-patr.org. Archived from the original on October 7, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  7. ^ "Announcement". www.patriarchate.org. Ecumenical Patriarchate. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-12. The Holy Synod discussed in particular and at length the ecclesiastical matter of Ukraine, in the presence of His Excellency Archbishop Daniel of Pamphilon and His Grace Bishop Hilarion of Edmonton, Patriarchal Exarchs to Ukraine, and following extensive deliberations decreed:
    1) To renew the decision already made that the Ecumenical Patriarchate proceed to the granting of Autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine. [...]
    4) To revoke the legal binding of the Synodal Letter of the year 1686 [...]
  8. ^ "Patriarch Bartholomew signs Tomos of autocephaly of Orthodox Church of Ukraine". risu.org.ua. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-05.