The Ukrainian Orthodox Church ( uk, Українська православна церква, Ukrainska pravoslavna tserkva; russian: Украинская православная церковь, Ukrainskaya pravoslavnaya tserkov', UOC), commonly referred to as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, (russian: Украинская православная церковь Московского патриархата, УПЦ-МП, UOC-MP) is 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 ...

church in

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 ...

under the disputed jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. It was officially formed in 1990 in place of Ukrainian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, which in 1966–1990 was led by Metropolitan Filaret, who is the longest serving primate of the Church. The UOC-MP is one of the two major

ecclesiastical bodies in modern

, alongside the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The latter was established at the Unification Council held under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on 15 December 2018 and which council was not attended by the majority of the bishops of the UOC. Since then, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople disputes the claims by the Moscow Patriarchate of its ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the territory of Ukraine. According to the Russian Orthodox Church, the Primate of the UOC-MP is the most seniorЖУРНАЛЫ заседания Священного Синода от 19 марта 2014 года
// ЖУРНАЛ № 1: «2. Включить в состав Священного Синода на правах постоянного члена митрополита Черновицкого и Буковинского Онуфрия, <…> с определением по протокольному старшинству места, занимаемого Блаженнейшим митрополитом Киевским и всея Украины — первым среди архиереев Русской Православной Церкви.» permanent member of the ROC's

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...

and thus has a say in its decision-making in respect of the rest of the ROC throughout the world. On May 27, 2022, the UOC-MP has removed all mentions of the Moscow Patriarchate from its statute due to Patriarch Kirill's support of the invasion of Ukraine. Prior to this decision, more than 400 parishes had left the Moscow Patriarchate as a consequence of the invasion. Despite the removal of direct mentions of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Charter of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II the statute refers to declares the canonical dependence on the ROC. According to a Ukrainian

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, the church have done these changes in order to avoid renaming in accordance with the Ukrainian law. Despite the ''de facto'' annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, the

eparchies 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 UOC in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

continued to be administered by the UOC,
Статус епархий в Крыму остался неизменным, заявили в УПЦ Московского патриархата

NEWSru NEWSru.com was a Russian online news site, based in Moscow, which had a government-critical orientation. History NEWSru.com was originally launched in 2000 at the address ntv.ru. When the government took over the NTV network in 2000, with the ...

, 10 March 2015.The Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate demanded the return of the Crimea
RBK Group (18 August 2014) until in June 2022 the Moscow Patriarchate decided to re-transfer Crimea from the Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The UOC continues to list the Crimean eparchies and has not recognized any change to its territorial boundaries based on decisions taken by the ROC.Єпархії Українська Православна Церква
(10 November 2022)

Name

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP) insists on its name being just the ''Ukrainian Orthodox Church'', stating that it is the sole canonical body of Orthodox Christians in the country, a Ukrainian "local church" ( uk, Помісна Церква). It is also the name that it is registered under in the State Committee of Ukraine in Religious Affairs. It is often referred to as the ''Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)'' or ''UOC (MP)'' in order to distinguish between the two rival churches contesting the name of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Following the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, on December 20, 2018, the Ukrainian parliament voted to force the UOC-MP to rename itself in its mandatory state registration, its new name must have "the full name of the church to which it is subordinated".Ukraine's parliament passes bill on renaming UOC-MP
UNIAN (20 December 2018) This was protested by UOC-MP adherents. On 11 December 2019 the

Supreme Court of Ukraine The Supreme Court of Ukraine ( uk, Верховний Суд України, ) is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction in Ukraine. The UOC-MP had argued that their governing center is in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, not in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

's capital,

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, and therefore it should not be renamed.

History

Under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

Moscow, Lithuania, Galich metropolia

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church considers itself the sole descendant in modern Ukraine of the metropolis of Kyiv and all Rus' within the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople established in Kyiv in the 10th century. Due to invasion of the Mongols in the 13th century the metropolitan seat was moved to

Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

and later to

, while in the Duchy of Halych and Volhynia was created a separate Metropolis of Halych with own Metropolitan. In the 14th century, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas who established his control over the former territories of Kyivan Rus attempted to move the metropolitan seat back to Kyiv.

Revival

In 1596, the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galich and all Rus' Michael Rohoza accepted the Union of Brest transforming dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople into the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church under the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

's jurisdiction. In 1620, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Cyril Lucaris reestablished Orthodox dioceses for the Orthodox population of what was then 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 ...

— under the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galicia, and all Russia

Job Boretsky Job Boretsky ( uk, link=no, Йов, secular name Ivan Matfeyevich Boretsky, pl, link=no, Iwan Borecki, died 2 March 1631) was the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Ortho ...

as the Patriarchal Exarch.

Merger into the Moscow Patriarchate

Following the

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

of the Cossack Hetmanate under the sovereignty of the Tsardom of Russia in 1654, the Kyivan metropolis in 1686 was transferred by the Patriarch Dionysius IV under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, following the election of Gedeon Svyatopolk-Chetvertynsky as the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galicia, and all Russia with the help of the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host

Ivan Samoylovych Ivan Samoylovych (, , ; died 1690) was the Hetman of Left-bank Ukraine from 1672 to 1687. His term in office was marked by further incorporation of the Cossack Hetmanate into the Tsardom of Russia and by attempts to win Right-bank Ukraine from ...

. In late 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople indicated that information about that it transferred jurisdiction over Ukraine to the Moscow Patriarchate was inaccurate as Constantinople temporarily provided Moscow with stewardship over the Ukrainian church. The Russian Orthodox Church immediately rejected that statementand called for further discussion and revision of historical archives. Soon, Gedeon gradually lost control of the dioceses which had been under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan of Kyiv. In January 1688, Gedeon's title was changed by Moscow to the ″Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galich, and Little Russia″. Gedeon's successors were effectively mere diocesan bishops under the Moscow Patriarchate and later

's Most Holy Synod. Before the Battle of Poltava, when

Ivan Mazepa Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (also spelled Mazeppa; uk, Іван Степанович Мазепа, pl, Jan Mazepa Kołodyński; ) was a Ukrainian military, political, and civic leader who served as the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host in 1687–1708. ...

sided with Carl XII, the new Metropolitan Ioasaf along with bishops of Chernigov and Pereyaslav was summoned by Peter the Great to Glukhov where they were ordered to declare an

anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

onto Mazepa. After the battle of Poltava, in 1709 Metropolitan Ioasaf was exiled to Tver and in 1710 a church censorship was introduced to the Kyiv metropolia. In 1718 Metropolitan Ioasaf was arrested and dispatched to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

for interrogation where he died. From 1718 to 1722, the Metropolitan See in Kyiv was vacant and ruled by the Kyiv Spiritual Consistory (under the authority of the Most Holy Synod); in 1722 it was occupied by Archbishop Varlaam.

Synodal period

In 1730, Archbishop Varlaam with all members of the Kyiv Spiritual Consistory were put on trial by the Privy Chancellery. After being convicted, Varlaam as a simple monk was exiled to the

Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (russian: Кирилло-Белозерский монастырь), translated into English as White Lake ranslation of the town name of BeloozeroSt. Cyril's Monastery, used to be the largest monastery and the stron ...

in Vologda region where he served a sentence of imprisonment of 10 years. After the death of the Russian Empress Anna in 1740, Varlaam was allowed to return and recovered all his

Archiereus ''Archiereus'' ( grc, ἀρχιερεύς, Russian, ''arkhierei'') is a Greek term for diocesan bishop, when considered as the culmination of the priesthood. It is used in the liturgical books of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Cathol ...

titles. He however refused to accept back those titles and, after asked to be left in peace, moved to the Tikhvin Assumption Monastery. In 1750 Varlaam accepted the Great Schema under the name of Vasili and soon died in 1751. In 1743, the title of Metropolitan was re-instated for Archbishop Raphael Zaborovsky. On 2 April 1767, the Empress of Russia Catherine the Great issued an edict stripping the title of the Kyivan Metropolitan of the style "and all Little Russia".

Fall of monarchy in Russia and Exarchate

Highest authority of Russian Orthodox Church in 1917

Metropolitan

Vladimir Bogoyavlensky Vladimir (russian: Владимир), baptismal name: Vasily Nikiforovich Bogoyavlensky (russian: Василий Никифорович Богоявленский; 1 January 1848 – ), was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was appoi ...

chaired the All-Ukrainian Church Council that took a break between its sessions on 18 January 1918 and was to be resumed in May 1918. On 23–24 January 1918, the Red Guards of

Reingold Berzin Reingold is a name. Notable people with the name include: Last name * Arvin Reingold (1930-2020), American lawyer and politician * Babs Reingold, American artist * David Reingold (born 1968), American sociologist * Edward Reingold (born 1945) ...

occupied Kyiv (see

Ukrainian–Soviet War The Ukrainian–Soviet War ( uk, радянсько-українська війна, translit=radiansko-ukrainska viina) was an armed conflict from 1917 to 1921 between the Ukrainian People's Republic and the Bolsheviks (Soviet Ukraine and S ...

). In the evening of 25 January 1918, Metropolitan Vladimir was found dead between walls of the Old Pechersk Fortress beyond the Gates of All Saints, having been killed by unknown people. In May 1918, the Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galich Antony Khrapovitsky was appointed to the Kyiv eparchy, a former candidate to become the Patriarch of Moscow at the Russian Local Council of 1917 and losing it to the

Patriarch Tikhon Tikhon of Moscow (russian: Тихон Московский, – ), born Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin (russian: Василий Иванович Беллавин), was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). On 5 November 1917 ( OS) he was ...

. In July 1918 Metropolitan Antony became the head of the All-Ukrainian Church Council. Eventually he sided with the Russian White movement supporting the Denikin's forces of South Russia, while keeping the title of Metropolitan of Kyiv and Halych. After the defeat of the Whites and the exile of Antony, in 1919-21 the metropolitan seat was temporarily held by the bishop of Cherkasy Nazariy (also the native of

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...

). After the arrest of Nazariy by the Soviet authorities in 1921, the seat was provisionally held by the bishop of Grodno and newly elected Exarch of Ukraine Mikhail, a member of the Russian Black Hundreds nationalistic movement. After his arrest in 1923, the Kyiv eparchy was provisionally headed by various bishops of neighboring eparchies until 1927. After his return in 1927 Mikhail became the Metropolitan of Kyiv and Exarch of Ukraine until his death in 1929. In 1945, after the integration of

Zakarpattia Oblast The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...

into the USSR, eastern parts of the Eparchy of Mukačevo and Prešov were transferred from the supreme jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the jurisdiction of the Exarchate of Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and a new Eparchy of Mukachevo and Uzhgorod was formed.

Dissolution of the Soviet Union and self rule

On 28 October 1990, the Moscow Patriarchate granted the Ukrainian Exarchate a status of a self–governing church under the jurisdiction of the ROC (but ''not'' the full autonomy as is understood in the ROC legal terminology). However, the Ukrainian branch remained crucial to the Moscow Patriarchate, because of historical and traditional roots in Kyiv and Ukraine, and because nearly a third of the Moscow Patriarchate's 36,000 congregations were in Ukraine. Metropolitan Vladimir (Sabodan), who succeeded Filaret (Denysenko), was enthroned in 1992 as the Primate of the UOC under the title

Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine The Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine is the archbishop of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, canonized at the Unification council of the Eastern Orthodox churches of Ukraine, Unifying council of 2018 in Kyiv. History Epiphanius I of Ukraine, ...

, with the official residency in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, which also houses all of the Church's administration. The UOC-MP, prior to 2019, was believed to be the largest religious body in Ukraine with the greatest number of parish churches and communities counting up to half of the total in Ukraine and totaling over 10,000. The UOC also claimed to have up to 75 percent of the Ukrainian population. Independent surveys showed significant variance. According to Stratfor, in 2008, more than 50 percent of Ukrainian population belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarch.

Razumkov Centre Razumkov Centre ( uk, Центр Разумкова), or fully the Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies named after Olexander Razumkov ( uk, Український центр економічних і політичних дослі ...

survey results, however, tended to show greater adherence to the rival Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate. Many Orthodox Ukrainians do not clearly identify with a particular Orthodox jurisdiction and, sometimes, are even unaware of the affiliation of the parish they attend as well as of the controversy itself, which indicates the difficulty of using survey numbers as an indicator of a relative strength of the church. Additionally, the geographical factor plays a major role in the number of adherents, as the Ukrainian population tends to be more churchgoing in the western part of the country rather than in the UOC-MP's heartland in southern and eastern Ukraine. Politically, many in Ukraine see the UOC-MP as merely a puppet of the ROC and consequently a geopolitical tool of

, which have stridently opposed the consolidation and recognition of the independent OCU.

Russo-Ukrainian War and eventual cutting ties with the ROC

Since 2014 the church has come under attack for perceived

anti-Ukrainian Anti-Ukrainian sentiment, Ukrainophobia or anti-Ukrainianism is animosity towards Ukrainians, Ukrainian culture, the Ukrainian language, Ukraine as a nation, or all of the above.Andriy Okara. Ukrainophobia is a gnostic problem.n18texts Okara. Ret ...

and

pro-Russian Russophilia (literally love of Russia or Russians) is admiration and fondness of Russia (including the era of the Soviet Union and/or the Russian Empire), Russian history and Russian culture. The antonym is Russophobia. In the 19th Century, ...

actions by its clergymen. On 14 September 2015 it urged the pro-Russian separatists to lay down their arms and take advantage of the amnesty promised to them in the

Minsk II The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements which sought to end the Donbas war fought between armed Russian separatist groups and Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Russian regular forces playing a central part. The first, know ...

agreement. Ukraine passed laws which the Moscow Patriarchate interpreted as discriminatory in 2017. From 2014 until 2018 around 60 Moscow Patriarchate parishes switched to the Kyivan Patriarchate in transfers the leadership of the Moscow patriarchate says were illegal. According to the

Razumkov Center Razumkov Centre ( uk, Центр Разумкова), or fully the Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies named after Olexander Razumkov ( uk, Український центр економічних і політичних дослі ...

, among the 27.8 million Ukrainian members of Orthodox churches, allegiance to the Kyiv Patriarchate grew from 12 percent in 2000, to 25 percent in 2016—and much of the growth came from believers who previously did not associate with either patriarchate. In April 2018 Moscow patriarchate had 12,300 parishes and the Kyivan Patriarchate 5,100 parishes. By decision of the Russian Orthodox Church Bishops’ Council (November 29-December 2, 2017), a separate chapter of the ROC Statute was singled out to confirm the status of UOC with the following provisions:

#The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is granted independence and self-governance according to the Resolution of the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church which took place on October 25–27, 1990. #The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an independent and self-governed Church with broad autonomy rights. #In her life and work the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is guided by the Resolution of the 1990 Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the 1990 Deed of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Statute on the governance of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

In December 2017, the Security Service of Ukraine published classified documents revealing that the

NKGB The People's Commissariat for State Security (russian: Народный комиссариат государственной безопасности) or NKGB, was the name of the Soviet secret police, intelligence and counter-intelligence fo ...

of the USSR and its units in the Union and autonomous republics, territories and regions were engaged in the selection of candidates for participation in the 1945 council that elected

Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow Patriarch Alexy I (Alexius I, russian: Патриарх Алексий I, secular name Sergey Vladimirovich Simansky, russian: Серге́й Влади́мирович Сима́нский; – 17 April 1970) was the 13th Patriarch of Moscow ...

from the representatives of the clergy and the laity. This included "persons who have religious authority among the clergy and believers, and at the same time checked for civic or patriotic work". A letter sent in September 1944 and signed by the head of the 2nd Directorate of the NKGB of the USSR Fedotov and the head of the Fifth Division 2nd Directorate of Karpov stated that "it is important to ensure that the number of nominated candidates is dominated by the agents of the NKGB, capable of holding the line that we need at the Council." On 13 December 2018 a priest of the church, Volodymyr Maretsky, was sentenced in absentia to 6 years of imprisonment for hindering the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2014 during the Russo-Ukrainian War. In November–December 2018, Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) carries out raids across the country targeting the UOC (MP) churches and priests. In the week following the creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on 15 December 2018, several parishes announced they would leave the UOC (MP) and join the new church. On 20 December 2018, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament) passed a legislation to change the UOC-MP's registered name. Ukrainian deputy described the law as stipulating if "the state is recognized as the aggressor state, the church whose administration is based in the aggressor state must have in its title the full name of the church to which it is subordinate". The Russian Orthodox Church, which the UOC-MP is part of, is based in Russia, which is considered by Ukraine as an aggressor state following the

2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Re ...

. The law also gave it "no right to be represented in

military units Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation ...

on the front line". On 11 December 2019 the

Supreme Court of Ukraine The Supreme Court of Ukraine ( uk, Верховний Суд України, ) is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction in Ukraine.Supreme Court of Ukraine rules in favor of Moscow Patriarchate
UNIAN (16 December 2019) The January, 2019 establishment of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), by final decree of the Eastern Church's Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, joined the major existing Ukrainian Orthodox jurisdictions: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), and a part of the UOC-MP.Liik, Kadri; Metodiev, Momchil; and Popescu, Nicu
"Defender of the faith? How Ukraine’s Orthodox split threatens Russia,"
May 30, 2019, policy brief,

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decisi ...

, retrieved January 26, 2022 The remaining UOC-MP hierarchy continued to dismiss the independence decree, and remained loyal to Moscow, and initially retained many of its parishes. A May 2019 report by the

noted that the Moscow Patriarchate claimed 11,000 churches in Ukraine, while the new OCU claimed 7,000. On 24 February 2022, Metropolitan Onufriy said the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

"is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who killed his own brother out of envy. Such a war has no justification either from God or from people." In April 2022, after the Russian invasion, many UOC-MP parishes signaled their intention to switch allegiance to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The attitude and stance of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to the war is one of the oft quoted reasons. On May 12, the synod of the UOC-MP met for the first time since the start of the war and issued a statement of support for Ukraine's armed forces, while condemning the Russian invasion. On 27 May 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church formally cut ties and declared independence from the Russian Orthodox Church. In an announcement on

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich (head of the UOC's Department of External Church Relations) stated:

The UOC disassociated itself from the Moscow Patriarchate and confirmed its independent status, and made appropriate changes to its statutes. All references to the connection of the UOC with the Russian Orthodox Church have been removed from the statutes. In fact, in its content, the UOC statutes are now those of an autocephalous Church.

On 29 May 2022, Metropolitan Onufriy did not mention Patriarch Kirill during the liturgy as someone who had authority over him (like before), instead he commemorated all heads of churches, similar to primatial divine liturgies. Onufriy also did not commemorate the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople,

Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria Theodore (Theodoros) II ( el, Πάπας και Πατριάρχης Αλεξανδρείας και πάσης Αφρικής Θεόδωρος Β΄; born Nikolaos Horeftakis (), November 25, 1954) is the current Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of ...

, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens (Greece), and Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus - indicating that communion is still interrupted between them. In June 2022 the Moscow Patriarchate decided to re-transfer Crimea from the Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate by creating the Metropolitanate of Crimea. Since the

2014 Russian annexation of Crimea In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv th ...

the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) had kept control of its eparchies in

. The UOC continues to list the Crimean eparchies and has not recognized any change to its territorial boundaries based on decisions taken by the ROC. By early November 2022 the Security Service of Ukraine had exposed 33 alleged "agents" and alleged unofficial artillery observers among the UOC priests and

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 ...

. It had opened 23 criminal proceedings. On 2 December 2022 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entered a bill to the Verkhovna Rada that would officially ban all activities of the UOC in Ukraine. On the same day, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery was claimed to be extrajudicially transferred from the UOC to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), but the UOC refuted this. On 14 December 2022 Ukraine handed over a UOC priest to Russia in a prisoner exchange. The priest had been sentenced for treason in Ukraine.

Administrative divisions

In October 2014 the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine was subdivided into 53

(

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s) led by bishops. Also there were 25

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

s ( suffragan bishops). In 2008 the Church had 42 eparchies, with 58 bishops (eparchial - 42; vicar - 12; retired - 4; with them being classified as: metropolitans - 10; archbishops - 21; or bishops - 26). There were also 8,516

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

s, and 443 deacons. Notwithstanding the

the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) kept control of its eparchies in

until June 2022. In January 2019 the head of the Information and Educational Department of the UOC-MP, Archbishop Clement, stated that "from the point of view of the church canon and the church system, Crimea is Ukrainian territory."According to the church canons, the Crimea is the territory of Ukraine - the UOC-MP
Ukrayinska Pravda (16 January 2019) In June 2022 the Moscow Patriarchate decided to re-transfer Crimea from the Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. They did this by creating the Metropolitanate of Crimea. The UOC continues to list the Crimean eparchies and has not recognized any change to its territorial boundaries based on decisions taken by the ROC.

List of Primates

Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galich, and all Little Russia

* Metropolitan Gedeon Svyatopolk-Chetvertynsky 1685–1690, the first Metropolitan of Kyiv of the Russian Orthodox Church, until 1688 was titled as the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galicia, and all Ruthenia * Metropolitan Varlaam 1690–1707 * Metropolitan Ioasaph 1707–1718 *''none'' 1718–1722 * Archbishop Varlaam 1722–1730 * Metropolitan Raphael 1731–1747, until 1743 as Archbishop * Metropolitan Timothy 1748–1757 * Metropolitan Arseniy 1757–1770, in 1767 Metropolitan Arseniy became Metropolitan of Kyiv and Halych Note: in 1770 the office's jurisdiction was reduced to a diocese's administration as Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia. The autonomy was liquidated and the church was merged to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Exarch of Ukraine

Due to emigration of Metropolitan Antony in 1919, until

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 opposing ...

Kyiv eparchy was often administered by provisional bishops. Also because of political situation in Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church introduced a new title in its history as the Exarch of Ukraine that until 1941 was not necessary associated with the title of Metropolitan of Kyiv and Halych. * Metropolitan Mikhail (Yermakov) 1921–1929 (Bishop of Grodno and Brest, 1905–1921; Archbishop of Tobolsk, 1925; and Metropolitan of Kyiv, 1927–1929) * Metropolitan Konstantin (Dyakov) 1929–1937 (Metropolitan of Kharkiv and Okhtyrka, 1927–1934 and Metropolitan of Kyiv 1934–1937) *''none'' 1937–1941, exarch was not appointed

Metropolitan of Volyn and Lutsk, Exarch of West Ukraine and Belarus

* Metropolitan

Nicholas (Yarushevich) Metropolitan Nicholas (russian: Митрополит Николай, born as Boris Dorofeyevich Yarushevich, russian: Борис Дорофеевич Ярушевич; January 13, 1892 (December 31, 1891 OS), Kovno – December 13, 1961, Moscow) ...

1940–1941

Metropolitan of Kyiv and Halych, Exarch of Ukraine

* Metropolitan

1941–1944 ** During

, on the territories of Ukraine occupied by Nazi Germany, Metropolitan Aleksiy organized the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church that considered itself part of the Russian Orthodox Church. * Metropolitan John (Sokolov) 1944–1964 * Metropolitan Joasaph (Leliukhin) 1964–1966 * Metropolitan Filaret (Denysenko) 1966–1990

Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine

* Metropolitan Filaret (Denysenko) 1990–1992 * Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) 1992–2014 * Metropolitan Onuphrius (Berezovsky) 2014Metropolitan Onufriy of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna elected head of Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
Interfax-Ukraine (13 August 2014)–Present

References

Sources

Tomos for Ukraine: rocking the Moscow foundation

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Ukrainian Orthodox church bodies Eastern Orthodox Church bodies in Europe Self-governed churches of the Russian Orthodox Church 1990 establishments in Ukraine Christian organizations established in 1990