Orthodoxy in Ukraine

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Orthodox churches in Ukraine today are the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and regionally the Russian Orthodox Church . Up until October 2018 there was a Ukrainian Orthodox Church that had not been canonically recognized - the Kiev Patriarchate , a Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate that had not been canonically recognized and a Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church that had not been canonically recognized . Since October 2018, the Orthodox Churches of Ukraine have been subordinate to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Istanbul with the aim of uniting the three churches. In 2016, 45.7% of the population belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate, 13.3% to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate and 0.8% to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

history

Kievan Rus

Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, painting by Vasily Vereshchagin, 1905

In 988 an Orthodox church was founded in Kievan Rus by Grand Duke Vladimir the Great . This was subordinate to the Patriarchate of Constantinople , the metropolitan seat was Kiev . In 992 the first bishop for Vladimir was mentioned in Volhynia . Churches and monasteries emerged, the most important of which is the Kiev Pechersk Lavra .

New eparchies were formed in Halitsch , Cholm , Lutsk and Peremyschl . Since 1303 there was a Metropolitan of Galicia , to whom the eparchies in Galicia and Volhynia were assigned. In 1305 the metropolitan moved from Kiev to Vladimir an der Kilyasma, in 1325 to Moscow .

Poland-Lithuania

Jesuit campaigns for the Union among the people of Vitebsk, drawing by Ilya Repin, 1893

In 1340 the areas of today's Ukraine came to Poland . They were alternately subordinate to a metropolitan from Lithuania or from Galicia . From 1391 all eparchies were under the Metropolitan of Moscow .

In 1439 a new metropolis of Kiev was created. The Orthodox Church has been under constant pressure from the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. In the 16th century, Jesuits like Peter Skarga were very active in agitating the Orthodox population, and Reformation influences were also noticeable ( Calvinist Church ). The moral condition of the Orthodox clergy was negligent. There were concubinates and offices were given to one's own descendants and acquaintances ( simony ).

Since 1590, the Ruthenian bishops sought a union with the Roman Catholic Church. In 1596 they joined the Union of Brest . The Uniate Greek Catholic Church was formed, which was organizationally and canonically subordinate to the Catholic Church, but retained the Byzantine Orthodox rite in liturgy and spiritual life.

The bishops of Lwów and Przemyśl refused to give their consent, as did most of the monasteries and the Orthodox brotherhoods . After initial resistance, most of the monasteries and churches were subordinated to the United Church in the following decades.

In 1620 an Orthodox Metropolitan was again appointed by Kiev, but under the protection of the Cossacks. In 1633 the Polish king appointed an Orthodox metropolitan of Kiev for the first time.

Russian Empire

From 1647 Kiev was under the military control of the Cossacks, from 1667 it belonged to the Russian Empire. The local Orthodox churches submitted to the Patriarch of Moscow.

In 1772 Volhynia and other areas of today's Ukraine came to Russia. Orthodox churches, parishes and eparchies emerged there again.

1919 to 1937

After the proclamation of the first independent Ukrainian state, the Ukrainian People's Republic , on January 25, 1918, Ukrainian clergy tried to underpin state independence by founding an autocephalous Orthodox Church. A resolution of the Russian Orthodox Church in September 1918 approved the recognition of an autonomous Ukrainian church. Due to the chaotic conditions, the first efforts were unsuccessful. The Bolsheviks , victorious in the civil war, wanted to weaken the Russian Orthodox Church and were initially benevolent to the idea of ​​a Ukrainian national church . The first autocephalous Ukrainian church was founded in Kiev in May 1920 and elected Vasyl Lypkivskyi as its first metropolitan in October 1921 . Since he lacked the necessary recognition from a patriarch , he was consecrated by priests and laypeople by the "laying on of hands", which was not compatible with Orthodox canon law. The first UAOK was therefore not recognized by the other Orthodox churches. Nevertheless, in the mid-1920s, it was able to gather 3–6 million believers in the Ukraine, who were organized in 1,000 parishes with 1,500 priests and 30 bishops. After the deputy patriarchal administrator Sergei (from 1943 patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church) made a declaration to the Soviet state in 1927 , in which the Russian Orthodox Church accepted the separation of church and state, the Bolsheviks lost their interest in Ukrainian autocephaly. Bishop Lypkiwskyj was forced to resign and banished that same year, and the church lost its autocephaly in 1930. In the following years, over 1,000 of its clergy were banished. In 1937 it ceased to exist.

1941 to 1944

In 1941 the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was re-established in the German-occupied Polish General Government. This time the starting point was the Polish Orthodox Church , which had been granted autocephaly status by the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1924 . Their Metropolitan Dionitsy consecrated the linguist and rector of the first Ukrainian university Kamyanets-Podilskyj , Ivan Ohijenko (Ilarion), as bishop of Kholm and Podlasie in 1940 and as metropolitan in 1944 . Thus there was an autocephalous Orthodox Church in the Generalgouvernement (AOKGG) that was perfectly canonical . A new Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was formed from it. However, the Germans did not recognize Illarion's election as Metropolitan of Kiev on November 25, 1941.

At the same time, the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church was established in the Holy Ascension Monastery in Pochayiv . Their sphere of influence extended from Volhynia to the Dnieper . Archbishop Alexy (Hromadsky) of Lutsk was appointed Metropolitan . The Church tried to be recognized as the Autocephalous Church in Ukraine, but failed because at the same time the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was re-established in the Polish part of Ukraine. It therefore submitted to the Russian Orthodox Church as an autonomous church.

On October 8, 1942, the union of the two Ukrainian churches was signed. Metropolitan Alexy later withdrew the signature after pressure from some bishops from his own church. In 1943 he was murdered.

Both churches were dissolved in 1944 after the territories were conquered by the Red Army .

1944 to 1990

The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the Diaspora continued its existence in the United States and Western Europe. In the Ukrainian SSR , all Orthodox eparchies belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Since 1990

Religions in Ukraine (2006)
  • Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate
  • Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate
  • Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
  • Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

    • without denomination

    Since 1990 there have been efforts in the Exarchate Ukraine of the Russian Orthodox Church for more independence. In 1990 the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church were officially approved again. Church buildings and other real estate were redistributed between these three churches.

    In 1992 Metropolitan Philaret of Kiev left the Russian Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate) then emerged. The latter is not recognized by most of the Orthodox churches. There was also a dispute between these two churches over real estate and the status of the national church.

    In the political conflicts in Ukraine since 2014, all churches sided with the Ukrainian positions, with the exception of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), which defended the Russian position. In 2016 the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate) made up 45.7% of the population, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) 13.7% and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church 1.3%.

    In October 2018, the three previously competing Ukrainian Orthodox churches were jointly recognized as canonical and placed under the ecumenical patriarchate, against the opposition of the Russian church. A synod with representatives from all three churches was opened on December 15, 2018.

    Orthodox churches

    Orthodox churches in Ukraine

    Ukrainian Orthodox Churches abroad within the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

    Municipalities in Germany

    • Ukrainian Orthodox Congregation St. Nikolaus in Düsseldorf, Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Diaspora
    • Ukrainian Orthodox community in Ingolstadt
    • Ukrainian Orthodox Congregation in Cologne, Kiev Patriarchate
    • Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary Protection in Krefeld, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Exarchate Western Europe
    • Ukrainian Orthodox Congregation in Munich, Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Diaspora
    • Ukrainian Orthodox Congregation in Neu-Ulm

    literature

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Religious Self-Identification and Prayer in Ukraine , Olena Bogdan, Kiev International Institute of Sociology, 2016, pdf
    2. ↑ By Patriarch Theophanes III. Caracallos of Jerusalem (1608–1644).
    3. ↑ Ukrainian Orthodox Church before independence. In: religion.orf.at. October 12, 2018, accessed November 27, 2018 .
    4. ↑ Ukrainian Orthodox St. Nicholas Church in Düsseldorf website
    5. ↑ Ukrainian Orthodox Church Community Transfiguration of the Lord Cologne, website
    6. ^ Orthodox parish of Mariä Schutz in Krefeld website