Bishop Cyril S. Terlecki ( uk, Кирило Терлецький, Kyrylo Terletsky; be, Кірыла Цярлецкі, Kiryla Ciarlecki; pl, Cyryl Terlecki; died May 1607) was a religious and political figure and one of the initiators of the conclusion of the

Union of Brest The Union of Brest (; ; ; ) was the 1595–96 decision of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church eparchies (dioceses) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to break relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church and to enter into communion with, and place i ...

in 1596. He served as the

Eparch Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on t ...

of the Eparchy of Lutsk–Ostroh as both an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

and Ruthenian Catholic.

Life

He came from a noble family, whose roots were out of Przemysl Land. Members of this family held high ecclesiastical positions in the first half of the 15th century. In the 1560s, he was the archpriest of St. Dmitry in

Pinsk Pinsk ( be, Пі́нск; russian: Пи́нск ; Polish: Pińsk; ) is a city located in the Brest Region of Belarus, in the Polesia region, at the confluence of the Pina River and the Pripyat River. The region was known as the Marsh of Pinsk a ...

. In 1572, the then Bishop of Turov-Pinsk, Brest, Andrew Rusin, died. In 1575, Terlecki, who at that time was a widower and could accept monastic tonsure, began fighting for the Turov-Pinsk Diocese and during the interregnum received a diploma in Turov-Pinsk diocese. Terlecki supported Prince

Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski (2 February 1526 – 13 or 23 February 1608, also known as ''Kostiantyn Vasyl Ostrozkyi'', uk, Костянтин-Василь Острозький, be, Канстантын Васіль Астрожскi, lt, Konst ...

, who had land holdings in Pinsk county. Becoming a bishop, Terlecki demanded rights and privileges of the clergy, collected documents from the historical past of his bishop, made a diocesan archives. Special attention is paid to strengthening the economic situation of the church. Built the Church of St. Ghost in

, cared for the poor. In 1585 the bishop of Lutsko Ostrozhsky, John-Borzobahatyy Krasenskyy, died. In May 1585, King Stefan Batory appointed Terlecki Lutsko-Ostrog bishop. In August 1589 Ecumenical Patriarch Jeremias II appointed Terlecki as Exarch – the first for a Ukrainian bishop. Church career * 1575 – 1585 – Turov-Pinsk Orthodox bishop * 1585 – 1595 – Lutsk-Ostrog Orthodox bishop * 1596 – 1607 – Lutsk-Ostrog Uniate Bishop Union Decline of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

in the lands of the Commonwealth led Terlecki and other bishops to seek a rapprochement with the Catholic Church. In June 1590 the congress of bishops in Belha, Terlecki together with other bishops first raised the issue of the necessity of the Orthodox and Catholic churches. In 1594 at the Congress in the Zocalo, Terlecki instructed to negotiate the conclusion of a future union. In June 1595 members of the cathedral at Brest agreed texts of the appeals to the Polish King

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

and Pope

Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born ...

, and decided to send a delegation consisting of Terlecki and

Ipatii Potii Hypatius Pociej ( be, Іпацій Пацей), pl, Hipacy Pociej, uk, Іпатій Потій) (12 April 1541 – 18 July 1613) was the Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus', Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia in the Ruthenian Uniate ...

to Rome. Terlecki participated in the Cathedral of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

in 1596, which was solemnly proclaimed the conclusion of Metropolis of Kiev's church union and the Catholic Church. In 1598 received from King

the title of

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

. Buried in

Lutsk Lutsk ( uk, Луцьк, translit=Lutsk}, ; pl, Łuck ; yi, לוצק, Lutzk) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast (province) and the administrative center of the surrounding Luts ...

Cathedral.

External links

Kyrylo Terletsky
at

Encyclopedia of Ukraine The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' ( uk, Енциклопедія українознавства, translit=Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies. Development The work was creat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Terlecki, Cyril Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Ukrainian Eastern Catholics Former Ukrainian Orthodox Christians Ruthenian nobility of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Eastern Orthodox bishops in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Bishops of the Uniate Church of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1607 deaths Year of birth unknown People from Brest Litovsk Voivodeship Eastern Orthodox bishops of Lutsk

Life

Further reading

External links