Patriarch Dymytriy (Yarema) (9 December 1915 – 25 February 2000) was the second

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

of Kyiv and all Ukraine, and of the

Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; uk, Українська автокефальна православна церква (УАПЦ), Ukrayinska avtokefalna pravoslavna tserkva (UAPC)) was one of the three major Eastern Orthod ...

(UAOC). Patriarch Dymytriy (Yarema) was successor to

Patriarch Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) Patriarch Mstyslav, secular name Stepan Ivanovych Skrypnyk (10 April 1898 – 11 June 1993), was a Ukrainian Orthodox Church hierarch. He was a nephew of Symon Petlyura. Biography Born in Poltava (Russian Empire, now Ukraine), Skrypnyk ...

from 1993 to 2000 and was succeeded by Metropolitan Mefodiy (Kudryakov).

Biography

He was a renaissance man who had studied art and music in his younger years, a leader with a developed political conscious who was a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in the 1930s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

on August 3, 1947, and to the priesthood on August 10 of that same year. In 1947–89 he was a member of the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

of the

Moscow Patriarchate , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. In 1989 he and the other members of the clergy left the

Moscow Patriarchate , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

and declared to be put under the omophor of the

under

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) Patriarch Mstyslav, secular name Stepan Ivanovych Skrypnyk (10 April 1898 – 11 June 1993), was a Ukrainian Orthodox Church hierarch. He was a nephew of Symon Petlyura. Biography Born in Poltava (Russian Empire, now Ukraine), Skrypny ...

who was at that time the head of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in USA and Canada. By 1990, with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

falling apart,

The Right Rev ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Fr. Dymitry Yarema initiated and was a participant in the first All-Ukrainian Sobor of the

UAOC The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; uk, Українська автокефальна православна церква (УАПЦ), Ukrayinska avtokefalna pravoslavna tserkva (UAPC)) was one of the three major Eastern Ortho ...

, held in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

in 1990, which elected Metropolitan Mstyslav as the first

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. In 1993 he took his

monastic vows Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role ...

and then was

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of ''Pereyaslav'' and ''Sicheslav'' by Archbishop of Lviv Petro (Petrus). At the 2nd Council of the Church in 1993 he was voted

Patriarch of Kyiv and all Rus’-Ukraine Metropolitan of Kyiv is an episcopal title that has been created with varying suffixes at multiple times in different Christian churches, though always maintaining the name of the metropolitan city — Kiev. The title takes its name from the city ...

. In late 1998 the aging Patriarch Dymytriy, his health weakening, determined that the future of the Church would be strengthen if it would turn once again to the ''Ukrainian diaspora'', which had maintained the

during nearly 70 years of

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

rule in

. The choice Patriarch Dymytriy made in his ''last will and testament'' to request that the

hierarchy agree to allow

Metropolitan Constantine Metropolitan Constantine (secular name Theodore Stanislavovich Buggan; July 29, 1936 – May 21, 2012) was the Metropolitan of Irinoupolis, and Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (UOC of USA), which is a jurisdiction of the E ...

of the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (UOC of USA; uk, Українська православна церква у США) is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States. It consists of two eparchies (dioceses), ruled ...

to guide it – which, if carried out, would effectively unite the two Churches – was a calculated move to save the UAOC from further incursions from the larger

Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

, and the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) The Ukrainian Orthodox Church ( uk, Українська православна церква, Ukrainska pravoslavna tserkva; russian: Украинская православная церковь, Ukrainskaya pravoslavnaya tserkov', UOC), common ...

References

Religious Information Service of Ukraine
First Hierarchs of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church 1915 births 2000 deaths People from Brzozów County People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Ukrainian Austro-Hungarians Ukrainian art historians Polish military personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany 20th-century Ukrainian historians Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub