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Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate

Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP; Ukrainian: Украї́нська Правосла́вна Це́рква – Ки́ївський Патріарха́т (УПЦ-КП), romanized: Ukrainska Pravoslavna Tserkva — Kyivskyi Patriarkhat (UPTs-KP)) is an Eastern Orthodox church.

After its unilateral declaration of autocephaly in 1992, the UOC-KP was not recognised by the other Eastern Orthodox churches, and was considered a "schismatic group" by the Moscow Patriarchate. Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko) was enthroned in 1995 and excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1997, an action not recognized by the UOC-KP synod. In 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople reinstated Filaret as a bishop and facilitated the convening of a unification council. In December 2018, the unification council of the Eastern Orthodox churches of Ukraine decided to unite the UOC-KP with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), creating the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) which was subsequently granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in January 2019.

A conflict between Filaret and Epiphanius, the Metropolitan of the OCU following the December 2018 unification council, erupted and resulted in Filaret claiming continuation of the UOC-KP on 20 June 2019. That church, however, is not currently recognized by, or in communion with any of the mainstream Eastern Orthodox churches that are members of Eastern Orthodoxy.