The Archeparchy of Polotsk(-Vitebsk) was a suffragan

eparchy 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 the ...

of the

Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia The Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia was a Metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropolis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church that was erected in 1620. The dioceses (eparchies) included th ...

in the

Ruthenian Uniate Church The Ruthenian Uniate Church ( Belarusian: Руская Уніяцкая Царква; Ukrainian: Руська Унійна Церква; la, Ecclesia Ruthena unita; pl, Ruski Kościół Unicki) was a particular church of the Catholic Church ...

from 1596 to 1839. It was situated in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

of the archeparchy was

Saint Sophia Cathedral Churches dedicated to Holy Wisdom (''Hagia Sophia'', also rendered ''Saint Sophia'') include: See also {{commons category, Holy Wisdom churches * Sophia of Rome#Churches, for churches named after Saint Sophia of Rome * Sofia Church (disambiguati ...

in the city of

Polotsk Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Dist ...

History

Administrative divisions of the Greek Catholic Church in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772

Previously an Eastern Orthodox eparchy headed by a suffragan bishop of the Kiev Metropolitan in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, in 1596 the eparchy of

, entered in full communion with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a

Greek Catholic Church The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

through 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 ...

. The eparchy was among the first that joined the union in 1596 along with eparchies of Kiev, Pinsk, Lutsk, Volodymyr and Kholm. Due to the Union of Brest, Belarus, the former Orthodox Church became known as the

. To the archeparchy of Polotsk were later added the territories of the eparchy of Mstislav (also of 13th-century origin) and the 10th-century eparchies of

Orsha Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers. History Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as Rsha ...

and

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...

. Due to its proximity to

, the eparchy played a key role in the church life and many of its bishops later became the Metropolitan bishops of Kiev, a hierarch of the Ruthenian Uniate Church. Those include Havryil Kolenda, Kyprian Zochovskyj, Lev Zalenskyj and many others. In the 1800s, the archeparchy was classified by the Catholic Church as a Ruthenian jurisdiction. The Russian imperial government suppressed the archeparchy on 25 March 1839 at the Council of Polotsk, which has no Catholic successor.

Episcopal ordinaries

( Byzantine Rite) ;''Non-metropolitan Ruthenian Catholic Archeparchs of Polotsk(-Vitebsk) :Kazimierz Dola, "Katalog arcybiskupów i biskupów rezydencjalnych eparchii polskich obrządku grecko-unickiego od Unii Brzeskiej (1596) do roku 1945" in ''Historia Kościoła w Polsce'' t. II 1764-1945, cz. 2 1918-1945, Poznań-Warszawa 1979, p. 308 Belarus-Polatsk-Cathedral of Sophia-12

Herman Zahorskyj Herman Zahorskyj (? - 1600 or 1601) was a bishop of the Ruthenian Uniate Church. Since 1595 he was Archbishop of Polotsk (originally Orthodox) and in 1596 accepted the Union of Brest, became Greek Catholic. Biography Zahorskyj was named as coad ...

(1596 - death 1600/1601) * Gedeon Brolnitskyj (26 May 1601 - death 1618) * Saint

Josaphat Kuntsevych Josaphat Kuntsevych, OSBM ( – 12 November 1623) was a Basilian monks, Basilian monk and eparch, archeparch of the Ruthenian Uniate Church, Ruthenian Catholic Church who on 12 November 1623 was killed by an angry mob in Vitebsk, in the ...

Order of Saint Basil the Great The Order of Saint Basil the Great ( uk, Чин Святого Василія Великого, translit=Chyn Sviatoho Vasyliia Velykoho; la, Ordo Sancti Basilii Magni, abbreviated OSBM), also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat, is ...

(O.S.B.M.) (born

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 ...

) (1618 - death 12 November 1623); previously Founder of

Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat The Order of Saint Basil the Great ( uk, Чин Святого Василія Великого, translit=Chyn Sviatoho Vasyliia Velykoho; la, Ordo Sancti Basilii Magni, abbreviated OSBM), also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat, is ...

(1607),

Coadjutor Archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coad ...

of Polatsk–Vitebsk of the Ruthenians (1617 – succession 1618.03) * Antin Sielava (1624 - death 1655) * Havryil Kolenda (1655 - death 21 May 1674), succeeding as former

of Polatsk–Vitebsk of the Ruthenians (– 1655) * Kyprian Zochovskyj (21 May 1674 - death 1693) * Lev Zalenskyj * Markian Bilozor (1697 - death 18 June 1707); previously Coadjutor Bishop of Pinsk–Turaŭ of the Ruthenians (Belarus) (? – 1665), succeeding as Eparch (Bishop) of Pinsk–Turaŭ of the Ruthenians (1665 – 1697) * Sylvester Peshkevych (9 November 1710 - death 8 September 1714) * Florian Hrebnitskyj (1715 - death 18 July 1762) * Jason Smogorevskyj (18 July 1762 - 25 June 1781), succeeding as former Coadjutor Archbishop of Polatsk–Vitebsk of the Ruthenians (? – 1762.07.18); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Kyiv–Halyč of the Ukrainians (Ukraine) (1781.06.25 – death 1788) * Heraklius Lisovskyj (1783 - death 30 August 1809) * Jan Krasovskyj (22 September 1809 - 1826); next transferred

Archbishop-Bishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Lutsk–Ostroh of the Ukrainians (Ukraine) (1826 – death 1827.08.23) * Jakub Martusevych (1826 - death 26 January 1833), previously Eparch (Bishop) of Lutsk–Ostroh of the Ukrainians (Ukraine) (1817 – 1826) * Josaphat Bulhak (14 April 1833 - death 9 March 1838); previously Bishop of Pinsk–Turaŭ of the Ruthenians (Belarus) (1787.04.24 – 1798.10.12), Eparch (Bishop) of Volodymyr–Brėst of the Ukrainians (Ukraine) (1798.10.12 – 1818.09.22),

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

of Vilnius of the Ukrainians ( Lithuania) (1814 – 1818), Apostolic Administrator of Kyiv–Halyč of the Ukrainians (Ukraine) (1817.01.27 – 1818.09.22), Eparch (Bishop) of Vilnius of the Ukrainians (Lithuania) (1818 – 1833.04.14), Metropolitan Archeparch (Archbishop) of Kyiv–Halyč of the Ukrainians (Ukraine) (1818.09.22 – 1838.03.09), Eparch (Bishop) of

Žyrovyci of the Ukrainians Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Vilnius (or Vilnius of the Ukrainians) and its successor Žyrovyci of the Ukrainians were the only eparchy (Eastern Catholic diocese) in Lithuania of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (''sui iuris'', Byzantine R ...

(Lithuania) (1828 – 1833.04.14).

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic, with Google satellite photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polotsk-Vitebsk, Ruthenian Catholic Archeparchy Eastern Catholic dioceses in Europe Eastern Catholicism in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Eastern Catholicism in Belarus

Eparchies of the Ruthenian Uniate Church Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia (Ruthenian Uniate Church)