Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church

Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church

The Church of St. Andrew in Kyiv was the main cathedral of the UAOC
AbbreviationUAOC
PrimateMetropolitan Macarius (last primate)
Language
HeadquartersKyiv, Ukraine
TerritoryUkraine
Possessions
Founder1st All-Ukrainian Orthodox Church Assembly
Origin1921 (first), 1942 (second), 1989 (third)
RecognitionFull communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople restored in October, 2018
Polish Orthodox Church (1942–1946)
SeparationsUAOC in diaspora
UAOC in exile
Merged intoOrthodox Church of Ukraine
Defunct1936 (first), 1944 (second), December 15, 2018 (third)
Members3 million

The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; Ukrainian: Українська автокефальна православна церква (УАПЦ), romanizedUkrayinska avtokefalna pravoslavna tserkva (UAPTs)) was one of the three major Eastern Orthodox churches in Ukraine in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, together with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). It began in 1921 during the dissolution of the Russian Empire as part of the Ukrainian independence movement and in order to restore the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that existed in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1620–1685 and was annexed by the Moscow Patriarchate without approval of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The UAOC came to an end in December 2018 as it united with the UOC-KP into the newly formed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

The UAOC, in its contemporary form, has its origins in the synod of 1921 in Kyiv, shortly after Ukraine's newly found independence. It was re-established for the third time[clarification needed] on 22 October 1989, right before the fall of the Soviet Union. Unlike the UOC-KP, the UAOC enjoyed no recognition by the rest of the Orthodox Christian community until 11 October 2018, when the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople lifted the excommunication which had afflicted both the UAOC and the UOC-KP.[1] It was clarified on 2 November 2018, however, that the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized neither the UAOC nor the UOC-KP as legitimate and that their respective leaders were not recognized as primates of their churches.[2][3] On 15 December 2018, at the unification council of the Eastern Orthodox churches of Ukraine, the UAOC and the UOC-KP, along with metropolitans from the UOC-MP, unified into the OCU.[4]

  1. ^ Chief Secretariat of the Holy and Sacred Synod (11 October 2018). "Announcement". The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Константинополь: "Надеемся, Москва обратится к разуму". Подробности беседы". BBC News Русская служба. 2018-11-02. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
  3. ^ Cazabonne, Emma (6 November 2018). "BBC interview with Archbishop Job of Telmessos on the Ukrainian question". orthodoxie.com. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  4. ^ "Metropolitan Epifaniy (Dumenko) becomes Primate of One Local Orthodox Church of Ukraine". risu.org.ua.