Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate

Unrecognized Eastern Orthodox church From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate
Remove ads
For other uses, see Ukrainian Orthodox Church (disambiguation).

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP; Ukrainian: Украї́нська Правосла́вна Це́рква – Ки́ївський Патріарха́т (УПЦ-КП), romanized: Ukrainska Pravoslavna Tserkva — Kyivskyi Patriarkhat (UPTs-KP)) was an Orthodox church in Ukraine, in existence from 1992 to 2018. Its patriarchal cathedral was St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv.

Quick facts Abbreviation, Type ...

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 and Ecumenical Patriarchate.[1][2][3] Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko) was enthroned in 1995 and excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1997,[4][5] an action not recognized by the UOC-KP synod.[6] In 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople moved unilaterally and against canonical norms to facilitate a "unification council", in contradiction to his previous statement "recognizing the fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church's exclusive competence on this issue".[7] The canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church rejected these overtures, noting its universal recognition as sole canonical authority on the territory of Ukraine and the political nature of the proposed council.[8] Constantinople ignored this, "reinstated" Filaret as a bishop and facilitated the convening of a unification council.[9][10][11][12][13] 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. The UOC-KP is not currently recognized by, or in communion with any of the mainstream Orthodox churches that are members of Eastern Orthodoxy. The OCU is recognized by only three of the fourteen universally recognized autocephalous churches.

Remove ads

History

Summarize
Perspective
See also: History of Christianity in Ukraine, History of the Russian Orthodox Church, and 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism

The Kyiv Patriarchate considers itself an independent church,[14] a successor of the Metropolis of Kyiv and all Rus[14] which existed under the Ecumenical Patriarchate until 1686 (when Constantinople transferred it to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church). In January 1992, after Ukraine became an independent state during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Moscow Patriarchate was able to freely elect a new Patriarch. Filaret was passed over in favor of Alexius II. Embroiled in scandal, Metropolitan of Kyiv Filaret promised the Synod of Ukraine to resign his position.[15] Before this could occur, he convened a small assembly of bishops from western Ukraine at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra which submitted a request for Ukrainian autocephaly to the Moscow Patriarch.[16] The Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate responded that it would grant autocephaly if the request were made by an official request of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and the appeal were addressed to the people of Ukraine, to allow them the opportunity to make their desires known.[17][16]

In June 1992, the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church defrocked Filaret Denysenko, citing his refusal to honor his oath to step down as primate of Ukraine, his slander of the council's decisions against him, illegal services, and inciting of schism.[18] That same month, Filaret helped establish the UOC-KP. Its nominal primate was the émigré Mstyslav (Skrypnyk), primate of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Mstyslav never approved the union of the UAOC and UOC-KP.[19] Although Metropolitan Filaret had been the driving force of the Kyiv Patriarchate, it was not until the sudden death of Patriarch Volodymyr (Romaniuk) in July 1995 that he was elected the Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine in October of that year. Filaret had been defrocked by the Moscow Patriarchate (in which he had been ordained and served as bishop from February 1962 to spring 1992) and was excommunicated in February 1997.[5]

After the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, 38 of the church's 46 parishes in Crimea ceased to exist; three churches were seized by Russian authorities.[20] The Kyiv Patriarchate is unrecognised by any other Orthodox churches. In April 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate began to consider a request by the Ukrainian Parliament and US Government to grant canonical status to the UOC-KP in Ukraine.[21][9]

11 October 2018 Ecumenical Patriarchate decision

Further information: Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

In early September 2018, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew announced his desire to abolish Constantinople's 1686 transfer of "the region of today's Metropolis of Kyiv" to the Moscow Patriarchate.[22] On 11 October 2018, after a synod, the Patriarchate of Constantinople renewed an earlier decision to move towards granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.[23][24][25] The synod also withdrew Constantinople's 332-year qualified acceptance of the Russian Orthodox Church's jurisdiction over the Ukrainian Church, contained in a 1686 letter — a move unprecedented in the history of the Orthodox Church.[24][25] It lifted the excommunications of Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and Metropolitan Makariy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC); both bishops were "canonically reinstated to their hierarchical or priestly rank, and their faithful ... restored to communion with the Church."[26][27][28] These moves were widely condemned across the Orthodox world. Virtually every Orthodox Primate protested these decisions, and even Greek bishops wrote rebukes of Constantinople's actions.[29][30]

The following day, the UOC-KP declared that the decision restored the canonical recognition of the episcopate and clergy of the Kyiv Patriarchate.[31][32] It was later clarified that the Ecumenical Patriarchate considered Filaret "the former metropolitan of Kyiv"[33][34][35][36] and Makariy "the former Archbishop of Lviv"[34][35] and, on 2 November 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarchate did not recognise the UAOC or the UOC-KP and their leaders.[37][38] The Ecumenical Patriarchate declared that it recognised sacraments performed by the UOC-KP and the UAOC as valid.[39][40]

On 20 October 2018, the UOC-KP changed the title of its leader to "His Holiness and Beatitude (name), Archbishop and Metropolitan of Kyiv – Mother of the Rus Cities and of Galicia, Patriarch of All Rus-Ukraine, Holy Archimandrite of the Holy Assumption Kyiv-Pechersk and Pochayiv Lavra".[41][42][43] The abridged form is "His Holiness (name), Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus’-Ukraine", and the form for interchurch relations is "Archbishop, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus'-Ukraine".[41][42][44][45][46][47] The full title and the interchurch-relations version's mention of "archbishop" and "metropolitan" and the abridged form's mention of "patriarch" have caused confusion.[42][43]

Dissolution and merger with the UAOC into the OCU

Main article: Unification council of the Orthodox churches of Ukraine

On 15 December 2018, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and UOC-KP hierarchies decided to dissolve the churches. That day, the UAOC, the UOC–KP and two members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) were going to merge to form the Orthodox Church of Ukraine after a unification council.[48]

According to Filaret, "the Kyiv Patriarchate has not been liquidated. It is not liquidated. They want to present the situation as if it was liquidated. The Kyiv Patriarchate can be liquidated by the one who created it".[49][50][51] The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, "in response to a widely circulated statement by the media, alleging that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate still exists or is being restored in Ukraine", published a report that the UOC-KP had "actually and legally ceased its activities".[52] Filaret said, "The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) remains registered with state bodies. In particular, the Kyiv Patriarchate remains registered. This means the Kyiv Patriarchate continues to legally exist."[53] According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, the UOC-KP still existed.[54][55]

Separation from the OCU and reestablishment of the UOC–KP

The local council of the UOC-KP (convened by Filaret) decided to cancel the decisions of the unification council of the Orthodox churches of Ukraine on 20 June 2019,[56][57] during the conflict between Filaret and Epiphanius.

On 31 July 2019, the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture said the UOC-KP had ceased to exist.[58][59] However, on 4 September 2019, the District Administrative Court of Kyiv [uk] suspended the liquidation of the UOC-KP at the request of the UOC-KP.[60][61] On 11 September, another decision of the same court blocked "the Justice Ministry of Ukraine, the Culture Ministry of Ukraine, its structural sub-units, central-government and local authorities, and notaries public from performing any registration regarding the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate [UOC-KP], and their assets"[62][63] On 11 November 2019, the Court of Appeal of the District Administrative Court of Kyiv confirmed legality of the process of liquidation of the UOC-KP.[64][65]

On 14 December 2019, after the meeting of the enlarged Bishops' Council, held on 14 December in Kyiv on the occasion of the anniversary of the creation of the OCU, Epiphanius declared that the procedure of liquidation of the UAOC as well as the UOC-KP had been completed the day before. He added: "Such structures no longer exist. In confirmation of that, in the State Register there is marked 'activity DISCONTINUED'".[66] In the same month, the UOC-KP stated it did not recognize the liquidation.[67]

In January 2020, the UOC-KP announced that Filaret had officially withdrawn his signature from 15 December 2018 act of dissolution of the UOC-KP.[68][69]

Remove ads

Statistics

Summarize
Perspective

The Kyiv Patriarchate has 44 percent of Orthodox Christians, compared to 12.8 percent for the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate. Although the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine (UOC-MP) has twice as many parishes, the UOC-KP had three times as many members. The former had 38 percent of all Orthodox and 25 percent of the population in 2016, and the Russian Orthodox had 23 percent of the Orthodox and 15 percent of the population. The UOC-KP had 34 dioceses worldwide, and over 5,100 parishes in Ukraine. Its United States vicariate consisted of 15 parishes, with its main cathedral St. Andrew's in Bloomingdale, Illinois.[70] The church had six parishes in Australia, and over 40 in western Europe. The Russian government's reported negative influence on the Moscow Patriarchate and claims that it is using the patriarchate as a "tool of influence over Ukraine" led to a renewed April 2018 drive to recognise an independent Ukrainian Orthodox church which, according to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, would help "eliminate internal strife and conflicts within the state."[21][71]

UOC-KP adherents in Ukraine, excluding Crimea and breakaway areas of Donbas:

More information Date, Percentage ...
Remove ads

Primates

Summarize
Perspective
Thumb
Patriarch Filaret with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, 21 October 2018

In November 1991 the all-Ukrainian sobor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, called by Metropolitan Filaret Denysenko, issued a request to the patriarch of Moscow for the autocephaly of the Ukrainian church.[75] The sobor of the ROC held in April 1992 refused that request and decided to replace Metropolitan Filaret with Volodymyr Sabodan. In response to this, at the all-Ukrainian sobor in June 1992 one part of the Ukrainian Orthodox church, led by Metropolitan Filaret, decided to separate from the ROC and unite with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) to form the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate under Patriarch Mstyslav.[75] Mstyslav never approved of the union of the UAOC and the UOC-KP.[75]

Patriarch Mstyslav (Stepan Ivanovych Skrypnyk) was Patriarch of Kyiv and all Rus’-Ukraine and primate of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC–KP) from 1991 to 1993. After Mstyslav's death in 1993, the temporary union ended and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church separated. The primates of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyiv Patriarchate continued to hold the title of patriarch:

On 20 October 2018, the UOC-KP changed the title of its primate to "His Holiness and Beatitude (name), Archbishop and Metropolitan of Kyiv – Mother of the Rus Cities and of Galicia, Patriarch of All Rus-Ukraine, Holy Archimandrite of the Holy Assumption Kyiv-Pechersk and Pochayiv Lavra".[42][43][76] The abridged form is "His Holiness (name), Patriarch of Kyiv and All Russia-Ukraine", and the form for inter-church relations is "Archbishop, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus'-Ukraine".[42][44][45][46][47][76] Metropolitan Hilarion called the bestowal of title a "farce".[2][77]

Remove ads

Administration

Before the first disestablishment:[78]

Dioceses

Exarchates and vicariates

  • Exarchate in Greece
  • Ukrainian Orthodox Vicarate of the UOC-KP in the US and Canada[84]
  • Vicariate in Australia
  • European Exarchate
  • Russian Exarchate
Remove ads

See also

References

Further reading

External links

External links

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads
Remove ads