Volodymyr (

secular name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth an ...

Vasyl Omelianovych Romaniuk, uk, Василь Омелянович Романюк; December 10, 1925, Khymchyn – July 14, 1995,

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 ...

) was the

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 the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP; uk, Украї́нська Правосла́вна Це́рква – Ки́ївський Патріарха́т (УПЦ-КП), Ukrainska Pravoslavna Tserkva — Kyivskyi Patr ...

. Initially consecrated as a bishop 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 ...

by bishop

Ioan Ioan is a variation on the name John found in Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Welsh (), and Sardinian. It is usually masculine. The female equivalent in Romanian and Bulgarian is Ioana. In Russia, the name Ioann is usually reserved for the clergy ...

in 1990, Volodymyr became one of the founders of the united

Ukrainian Orthodox Church The history of Christianity in Ukraine dates back to the earliest centuries of the history of Christianity, to the Apostolic Age, with mission trips along the Black Sea and a legend of Saint Andrew even ascending the hills of Kyiv. The first Ch ...

in June 1992.

Biography

He was an ex-political (member of

OUN Oun or OUN may refer to People * Ahmed Oun (born '1946), Libyan major general * Ek Yi Oun (1910–2013), Cambodian politician * Kham-Oun I (1885–1915), Lao queen consort * Õun, an Estonian surname; notable people with this surname * Oun Kham (18 ...

) prisoner who was imprisoned by communist Soviets for 17 years (1944–1954, 1972–1979). In 1979 he became a member of the

Ukrainian Helsinki Group The Ukrainian Helsinki Group ( uk, Українська Гельсінська Група) was founded on November 9, 1976, as the "Ukrainian Public Group to Promote the Implementation of the Helsinki Accords on Human Rights" ( uk, Українс ...

, was exiled from 1979 till 1982, and became a political emigrant at the end of the 1980s. On July 1, 1976 Volodymyr renounced his Soviet citizenship.Krainiy, I.
Archipoor youth of Patriarch
'. (in Ukrainian; archived 15 April 2015) "Ukrayina Moloda", accessed 25 June 2022 Between 1987–1990, Vasyl Romaniuk lived in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and was a priest of the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (UOCC; french: Église orthodoxe ukrainienne du Canada) is an Eastern Orthodox church in Canada, primarily consisting of Orthodox Ukrainian Canadians. Its former name (before 1990) was the Ukrainian Greek ...

. Also he served under 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 ...

, whose Metropolitan was Metropolitan Mstyslav (later Patriarch of Kyiv). In 1990 with the onset of

Perestroyka ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

he returned to

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 ...

and became

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 ...

Uzhgorod Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximat ...

and

Vynohradiv Vynohradiv ( uk, Виноградів, hu, Nagyszőlős, ro, Seleușu Mare, sk, Vinohradov) is a city in western Ukraine, in Zakarpattia Oblast. It was the center of Vynohradiv Raion and since 2020 it has been incorporated into Berehove Raion ...

. For a short period, he was

Archbishop 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 ...

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

and

Sokal Sokal ( uk, Сокаль, romanized: ''Sokal'') is a city located on the Bug River in Chervonohrad Raion, Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Sokal urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The population is appro ...

. In 1993, by the

decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

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 ...

he was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

for accepting

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

from Metropolitan Filaret (Denysenko). On October 22, 1993 he was elected

of the

. On July 14, 1995 Patriarch Volodymyr (Romaniuk) suddenly died under somewhat mysterious circumstances, with the official diagnosis being causes related to a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. His burial took place on July 18, 1995. Many

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

and faithful called the day of burial ''black Tuesday'', because of confrontations that took place between members 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 ...

, laypeople of different denominations and the UNA-UNSO members battling riot

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

, after an unsuccessful attempt to have him buried on the premises of the

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine, is an architectural monument of Kyivan Rus. The former cathedral is one of the city's best known landmarks and the first heritage site in Ukraine to be inscribed on the World Heritage List along with the K ...

. At least two people were killed, dozens more injured. Patriarch Volodymyr (Romaniuk) was succeeded by Metropolitan Filaret (Denysenko) who was enthroned as

and All Rus’ -

on October 22, 1995.

References

External links

Religious Information Service of UkraineVideo about Patriarch Volodymyr
1925 births 1995 deaths People from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast First Hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate Burials in Kyiv by place Victims of human rights abuses Soviet human rights activists Clergy removed from office Ukrainian Helsinki Group Soviet dissidents {{Ukraine-bio-stub