Orthodox Church of Ukraine

This article is about a partially-recognized Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine. For other uses, see Ukrainian Orthodox Church (disambiguation).

Orthodox Church of Ukraine
Православна церква України
Emblem of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, depicting a cross with Orans of Kyiv
AbbreviationOCU
ClassificationEastern Orthodox Church
ScriptureSeptuagint, New Testament
TheologyEastern Orthodox theology
PolityEpiscopal
PrimateEpiphanius I, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine
Bishops62 (as of December 2019[1])
Clergy4,500 in total (as of December 2019[1])
Parishes6,185 (2022)[2]
Monasteries/convents71 (both male and female)[2]
LanguageUkrainian
Church Slavonic[3]
Romanian[4]
Greek[5]
LiturgyByzantine Rite
HeadquartersUkraine St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, Kyiv[a][7][8]
TerritoryUkraine Ukraine
Origin988, establishment of the Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus'

1448, split of the Muscovite Church

1596, Union of Brest

1620, reestablishment of the Orthodox Church

1685, unilateral annexation by the Moscow Patriarchate

1921, creation of the "Assembly-Ruled" Autocephalous Church

1937, liquidation of the "Assembly-Ruled" Autocephalous Church by Soviet regime

1946, liquidation of all remaining Ukrainian churches

1989, revival Ukrainian religious organizations

1990, formation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

1992, Unification and establishment of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate

1993, restoration of the smaller Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church

2018, the Unification Council
Independence5 January 2019 (recognized and autocephaly granted)[9][10][11]
RecognitionAutocephaly recognized by:
Ecumenical Patriarchate (5 January 2019)
Patriarchate of Alexandria (8 November 2019)
Church of Greece (19 October 2019)
Church of Cyprus (24 October 2020)
Merger ofUAOC
UOC-KP
UOC-MP (partly)
SeparationsParts of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate on 20 June 2019 (see Conflict between Filaret and Epiphanius)
Members78% of the Ukrainian Orthodox population
(March 2022, study by Info Sapiens; 52% of the entire population of Ukraine)[12]
Other name(s)Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Most Holy Church of Ukraine
Official websitewww.pomisna.info[13]
  1. ^ The headquarters are in the Saint Sophia's Cathedral of Kyiv. St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery is used as the headquarters of the Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine[6]
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Eastern Orthodox Church
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Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia
Overview
Background
Organization
Autocephalous jurisdictions
Autocephalous Churches who are officially part of the communion:

Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure:

Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches:

Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church:


Autonomous jurisdictions

Semi-Autonomous:

Episcopal assemblies
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  • Other possible ecumenical councils:
  • Other important councils:
History
Theology
Liturgy and worship
Liturgical calendar
  • The four fasting periods:
Major figures
Other topics
St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv, the headquarters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Православна церква України, romanized: Pravoslavna tserkva Ukrainy;[14][15] OCU), also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,[16] is a partially recognized Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on 6 January 2019.[17]

The Eastern Orthodox Church partially recognizes the Orthodox Church of Ukraine as the only canonical successor of the Metropolitanate of Kyiv,[18][19][20] while the Catholic Church recognizes the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church as the only canonical successor.

The church was established under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople by a unification council that convened in Kyiv on 15 December 2018, following which Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I granted it a tomos of autocephaly. The unification council united the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church into the OCU. Two bishops formerly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC-MP) also joined. The unification council elected the Metropolitan of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi and Bila Tserkva, Epiphanius Dumenko, as its primate and as Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.

It was also agreed by the council that those "Orthodox Christians of Ukrainian provenance in the Orthodox diaspora" should be subject to the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (per Article 4 of the Statute).[21][22] This provision is also enshrined in the OCU's tomos of autocephaly.[23][24][25] In March 2019, Metropolitan Epiphanius said that the transfer of parishes of the dissolved Kyiv Patriarchate to the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate had already begun.[26]

The establishment of the OCU and its recognition by other autocephalic Orthodox Churches has been opposed by the Russian Orthodox Church as well as by the Government of Russia.[27]

According to some sources, the OCU is the largest church in Ukraine, while other sources leave that attribute to the UOC-MP. both of which have claimed full independence and autonomy.[28][29] The UOC-MP has since been banned by the Ukrainian government.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference epiphreport2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Report on the network of religious organizations as of January 1, 2022". dess.gov.ua. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to host services in Ukrainian as Epiphanius vows monastery will remain open". nv.ua. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  4. ^ "OCU establishes Romanian vicariate". risu.ua. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  5. ^ "OCU Synod approves appointments and appoints a bishop for Greek-speaking faithful in Ukraine". risu.ua. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  6. ^ UATV English (6 January 2019). "Tomos Ceremony" – via YouTube.
  7. ^ "Факти ICTV – Михайлівський Золотоверхий стане кафедральним собором єдиної УПЦ". 16 December 2018. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Михайлівський Золотоверхий собор буде головним храмом ПЦУ". risu.org.ua. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Ukraine Orthodox Church granted independence from Russian Church". British Broadcasting Corporation. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  10. ^ Butler, Daren; Usta, Bulent (6 January 2019). "Ukraine's Orthodox Church now independent". The Australian. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  11. ^ Feldschreiber, Jared (6 January 2019). "Ecumenical Patriarch officially grants independence to Ukrainian Orthodox Church". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  12. ^ "73% of parishioners of the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate no longer identify with this church" (PDF). sapiens.com.ua. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  13. ^ "Православна Церква України запустила власний сайт". risu.org.ua.
  14. ^ Σύνταξης, Αίθουσα (15 December 2018). Ανακηρύχθηκε η αυτοκέφαλη Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία της Ουκρανίας. Tribune.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Αυτοκέφαλη η Εκκλησία της Ουκρανίας, επικεφαλής ο μητροπολίτης Επιφάνιος |thetoc.gr". The TOC. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  16. ^ "Ukrainian Orthodox Church condemns manifestations of "language of hate"". pomisna.info. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  17. ^ "Патріарший і Синодальний Томос надання автокефального церковного устрою Православній Церкві в Україні". PCU. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  18. ^ "Тепер в Україні немає УПЦ МП, – Вселенський патріарх". novynarnia.com. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Варфоломій: єдина канонічна православна церква в Україні – це ПЦУ". texty.org.ua. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  20. ^ "Варфоломій привітав ПЦУ з річницею хрещення Русі-України". Гордон | Gordon. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  21. ^ Православна церква України буде автокефальною – статут (повний текст документу) [The Orthodox Church of Ukraine will be autocephalous – the charter (full text of the document)]. РБК-Украина (in Ukrainian). 15 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  22. ^ Piter234903 (15 December 2018). "Statut". www.slideshare.net. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2018.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "Томос для Української Церкви: що ховається в деталях". risu.org.ua. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  24. ^ Rakocevic, Jelena (3 January 2019). "Overcoming of schisms goes further or the Ecumenical Patriarchate strikes back". DELFI. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference :20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ "Epifaniy announces start of transfer of foreign parishes of OCU to Constantinople". risu.org.ua. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  27. ^ Younger, Katherine (8 November 2019). "The changing dilemmas of Ukrainian Orthodoxy". www.eurozine.com. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  28. ^ Релігія, Церква, суспільство і держава: два роки після Майдану [Religion, Church, Society and State: Two Years after Maidan] (PDF) (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Razumkov Center in collaboration with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches, 26 May 2016, pp. 22, 27, 29, 31, archived (PDF) from the original on 22 April 2017
    Sample of 2,018 respondents aged 18 years and over, interviewed 25–30 March 2016 in all regions of Ukraine except Crimea and the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
  29. ^ Ksenia Luchenko (30 May 2022). "Независимость или раскол. Какими станут отношения Украинской и Русской православной церкви" [Independence or split. What will be the relationship between the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Churches?]. Carnegie Endowment. Retrieved 5 October 2023.