Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church

Not to be confused with Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church
St. Joseph Church in Pidhirtsi, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine
AbbreviationUOGCC
ClassificationIndependent Catholic
OrientationEastern Catholic · Conclavist
PolityEpiscopal
PatriarchElijah Anthony Dohnal
RegionUkraine
LanguageChurch Slavonic and Ukrainian
LiturgyByzantine Rite
OriginAugust 11, 2009
Pidhirtsi, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine
Separated fromUkrainian Greek Catholic Church
Other name(s)Pidhirtsi Fathers
Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
Official websitehttp://www.uogcc.org.ua/en
http://vkpatriarhat.org/en/

The Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church (UOGCC) is an unregistered Eastern Independent Catholic religious movement that was established by Basilian priests, predominantly from Slovakia, who schismated from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and declared the creation of the new church in 2009 based in Pidhirtsi, Ukraine.

The movement is not officially recognized in Ukraine by the religious community or state authorities. The organization was officially excommunicated from the Catholic Church and their bishops' consecrations declared invalid. The movement's seven founding self-consecrated "bishops" were formerly priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and former members of the Order of Saint Basil the Great. In 2009, the organization announced that it succeeded the "heretical" Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.[1]

The organization is also known as Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate or Pidhirtsi Fathers.[1]

The movement has been described by The New York Times as anti-European Union and anti-Ukrainian as well as pro-Yanukovych and pro-Russian, as well as fervently against homosexuality which it often accuses its opponents of spreading.[2]

In 2019, the sect elected Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, as Pope, thus switching from a sedevacantist to a conclavist position.[3][4] There is no evidence that Viganò ever accepted the results of this election.

  1. ^ a b Kvyatkovskyi, A. "Dohnalits". What was it? («Догналіти». Що це було?) Zbruc. 5 July 2016
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