• About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Friday, July 11, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Orthodox Times (en)
  • Home
  • Orthodoxy
    • Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Mount Athos
      • Archdiocese of America
      • Archdiocese of Australia
      • Church of Crete
    • Patriarchates
      • Patriarchate of Alexandria
      • Patriarchate of Antioch
      • Patriarchate of Moscow
      • Patriarchate of Serbia
      • Patriarchate of Romania
      • Patriarchate of Jerusalem
      • Patriarchate of Bulgaria
      • Patriarchate of Georgia
    • Churches
      • Church of Greece
      • Church of Cyprus
      • Church of Poland
      • Church of Albania
      • Church of Czech and Slovakia
      • Church of Ukraine
  • Politics
    • USA
    • Europe
    • Middle East
  • Society
    • Greek Diaspora
    • Culture
  • Spirituality
  • Christianity
  • Opinions
  • Home
  • Orthodoxy
    • Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Mount Athos
      • Archdiocese of America
      • Archdiocese of Australia
      • Church of Crete
    • Patriarchates
      • Patriarchate of Alexandria
      • Patriarchate of Antioch
      • Patriarchate of Moscow
      • Patriarchate of Serbia
      • Patriarchate of Romania
      • Patriarchate of Jerusalem
      • Patriarchate of Bulgaria
      • Patriarchate of Georgia
    • Churches
      • Church of Greece
      • Church of Cyprus
      • Church of Poland
      • Church of Albania
      • Church of Czech and Slovakia
      • Church of Ukraine
  • Politics
    • USA
    • Europe
    • Middle East
  • Society
    • Greek Diaspora
    • Culture
  • Spirituality
  • Christianity
  • Opinions
No Result
View All Result
Orthodox Times (en)
No Result
View All Result

Autocephaly for Ukraine: How it happened

Jun 13, 2019 | 18:34
in Opinions
Autocephaly for Ukraine: How it happened

By Kadri Liik, Momchil Metodiev, Nicu Popescu*

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ecclesiastical landscape in Ukraine became greatly diversified. Three different Orthodox churches emerged – an unusual situation in the Orthodox world, where “one country, one church” has become an accepted norm. In Soviet times, Orthodox churches in Ukraine were simply part of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1990 the Moscow Patriarchate established the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Moscow Patriarchate by granting the Ukrainian Exarchate the status of autonomous self-governing church under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church.

This included the duty to mention the Moscow Patriarch at each church service as the recognised head of the church. The move did not give the new church the right of independent foreign policy, which was still supposed to coordinate its positions on different issues in the Orthodox world with Moscow. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Moscow Patriarchate claims to have more than 11,000 parishes on the territory of Ukraine. Until recently, it was the only internationally recognised Orthodox church on the territory of Ukraine.

In 1992 a new institution was established that became known as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyivan Patriarchate, headed by Patriarch Filaret, a former archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church who had sought to become the Moscow Patriarch in 1990, but lost to Alexy II. Moscow immediately declared the new church schismatic, while other Orthodox churches refused to recognise it. Nonetheless, having become the second strongest church in Ukraine, it now claims 4,281 parishes.

The third institution – the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which claims around 1,200 parishes – was effectively a church in exile in Soviet times. It was created after the Russian revolution and, in the following decades, was supported by Ukrainian emigrants before being reinstated in Ukraine in 1990.

Finally, Ukraine also has the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, an eastern-rite church. The largest Uniate church, it claims 3,828 parishes – mainly in western Ukraine – and has more than four million followers who practice the eastern rite but accept the primacy of the Pope.

This divided church landscape, though, came to contrast markedly with Ukrainian public opinion. By late 2018, 54 percent of Ukrainians supported the creation of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent from Moscow. Only 19 percent opposed it.

Autocephaly and Ukrainian unity: an inevitability?

Church observers in Moscow admit that the situation in Ukraine was unusual, and that steps should have been taken to regularise it – preferably by the Moscow Patriarchate itself. One prominent Russian deacon and church affairs commentator, Andrei Kuraev, has all but advocated such an approach: “Moscow should have accepted that Ukrainian church autocephaly was inevitable, and should have offered this autocephaly to Kiev itself, rather than for wait for Constantinople to do that. This would have ensured a strong spiritual relationship between the Ukrainian and Russian church in the future”. But this view is rare in Moscow: church leaders had long preferred to ignore the problem. “Kirill inherited that situation with three churches, but for ten years he did nothing – just pretended that we were united, that the problem did not exist”, says Ksenia Luchenko, editor of Orthodox website pravmir.ru.

Against this background of war and politics – and in the absence of any leadership on this from the Russian patriarchate – the then Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko set about addressing the issue, partly to benefit from it politically. In April 2018, he sent a letter to the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople requesting autocephaly for Ukraine. Two of the existing church structures in Ukraine – the Kyivan Patriarchate church and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church – supported his request. And his initiative bore fruit.

The role of the Ecumenical (Constantinople) Patriarch

The influence of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is primarily based on the historical tradition that places Constantinople as the first among equal Orthodox churches. This gives it the right to convoke Pan-Orthodox Councils with the consent of other churches and to preside over them. Secondly, the Ecumenical See has a wide network of international contacts with all Christian churches. Most important among these contacts are the traditionally good relations between Constantinople and Rome that began after the 1960s.

Elected in 1991, Patriarch Bartholomew is regarded as an ambitious leader who wants to defend and even increase the status of the Ecumenical Throne. He has built on the legacy of Athenagoras (patriarch from 1948 to 1972), promoting reconciliation and dialogue between the Christian denominations. Bartholomew is known for his active position on ecological issues; Pope Francis recognised his contribution in this area in his encyclical “Laudato Si” in 2015.

The weakness of the Ecumenical Patriarchate lies in the fact that it is neither supported nor defended by a powerful state, as it is located in Istanbul. But this is also a strength, since none of the other Orthodox churches and countries suspect the Ecumenical Patriarchate of facilitating intervention by other states – which makes it a recognised arbiter of disputes between Orthodox churches. An important symbolic strength of the Ecumenical Patriarchate also lies in the fact that it controls the spiritual centre of Orthodoxy – Mount Athos, in Greece. Although some of the monasteries in the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos are traditionally connected with other countries – such as Serbia, Bulgaria, and Russia – all of them are within the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch.

When ECFR met the All-Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, he was explicit about the impact of Poroshenko’s démarche: “The Ukrainian church asked for autocephaly seven times, and we did not answer their petitions before. But this time we also received petitions from the Ukrainian president and parliament. One could see a united Ukrainian desire for autocephaly. I also received private messages in favour of autocephaly from multiple bishops who are in the Ukrainian church under the Moscow Patriarchate”.12 His motivation was also religious. He wanted to bring millions of Ukrainians who belonged to the uncanonical churches of Ukraine into the fold of the canonical Church. The patriarch also said he felt it was unfair for the 500,000 believers of the Polish Orthodox Church, and the 100,000 Orthodox believers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to have independent churches while 40 million Ukrainians did not.

*Τhis article is part of a research for ECFR. Romfea.news will republish extracts from the paper in the following days

Tags: Church of UkraineRussiaRussian Orthodox ChurchUkraineUkrainian Autocephaly

Follow OrthodoxTimes.com on Google News and learn all the news about Orthodoxy in Greece and worldwide.

All the latest developments in the Orthodox world, society and humankind, at the moment they happen, at OrthodoxTimes.com


Related Posts

Metropolitan of Kyiv: The Light always triumphs over darkness
Church of Ukraine

Metropolitan of Kyiv: The Light always triumphs over darkness

July 8, 2025
Metropolitan of Kyiv consecrated Church in Krasylivka, Ivano-Frankivsk Region (PHOTOS)
Church of Ukraine

Metropolitan of Kyiv consecrated Church in Krasylivka, Ivano-Frankivsk Region (PHOTOS)

July 6, 2025
Metropolitan of Kyiv met Secretary General of the Community of Democracies
Church of Ukraine

Metropolitan of Kyiv met Secretary General of the Community of Democracies

July 5, 2025
Metropolitan of Ukraine: We are united in our desire for victory over the enemy
Church of Ukraine

Metropolitan of Ukraine: We are united in our desire for victory over the enemy

July 4, 2025
What was Metropolitan Onufriy’s response to the revocation of his citizenship
Church of Ukraine

What was Metropolitan Onufriy’s response to the revocation of his citizenship

July 4, 2025
Divine Liturgy presided over by Metropolitan Epifaniy at Saints Peter and Paul Church in Kyiv
Church of Ukraine

Divine Liturgy presided over by Metropolitan Epifaniy at Saints Peter and Paul Church in Kyiv

June 29, 2025
Load More
Next Post
Patriarch Daniel attends Divine Liturgy at Pasărea Monastery

Losing your faith is the beginning and the root of every fall or failure

Latest News

Metropolitan of Ireland met with the Greek Secretary General for Religious Affairs

Metropolitan of Ireland met with the Greek Secretary General for Religious Affairs

by NewsRoom
Jul 10, 2025 | 20:02
0

Metropolitan Iakovos of Ireland met with the Greek Secretary General for Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Education, Mr....

European Parliament adopts resolution for the protection of Christian minorities in Syria

European Parliament adopts resolution for the protection of Christian minorities in Syria

by NewsRoom
Jul 10, 2025 | 18:50
0

The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for the protection of Christian minorities in Syria, following the...

UOC Hierarchs call on President Zelenskyy to reverse citizenship revocation of Metropolitan Onufriy

UOC Hierarchs call on President Zelenskyy to reverse citizenship revocation of Metropolitan Onufriy

by NewsRoom
Jul 10, 2025 | 17:25
0

In an open letter to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, numerous hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) have expressed their...

Greek PM at Ukraine Recovery Conference: ‘We are here also as defenders of values’

Greek PM at Ukraine Recovery Conference: ‘We are here also as defenders of values’

by NewsRoom
Jul 10, 2025 | 16:12
0

"We are here today not only as friends of Ukraine but also as defenders of values,” Greek Prime Minister...

Condolences of the Middle East Council of Churches to the Patriarch of Antioch

Condolences of the Middle East Council of Churches to the Patriarch of Antioch

by NewsRoom
Jul 10, 2025 | 13:54
0

Patriarch of Antioch and All the East received a delegation from the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council...

Archdiocese of Canada published special spiritual nourishment “QR Poster”

Archdiocese of Canada published special spiritual nourishment “QR Poster”

by NewsRoom
Jul 10, 2025 | 13:05
0

As another school year finishes for our youth and young adults across Canada, and as we look forward to...

Newsletter

Sign up for our weekly newsletter



Quick Links

  • Orthodoxy
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Spirituality
  • Christianity
  • Opinions
  • History
  • Press Releases

Get Social

About Us

Advertise

Contact

Terms Of Use

© 2025 OrthodoxTimes.com
digital world media

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Orthodoxy
    • Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Dioceses of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
      • Mount Athos
      • Archdiocese of America
      • Archdiocese of Australia
      • Church of Crete
    • Patriarchates
      • Patriarchate of Alexandria
      • Patriarchate of Antioch
      • Patriarchate of Moscow
      • Patriarchate of Serbia
      • Patriarchate of Romania
      • Patriarchate of Jerusalem
      • Patriarchate of Bulgaria
      • Patriarchate of Georgia
    • Churches
      • Church of Greece
      • Church of Cyprus
      • Church of Poland
      • Church of Albania
      • Church of Czech and Slovakia
      • Church of Ukraine
  • Politics
    • USA
    • Europe
    • Middle East
  • Society
    • Greek Diaspora
    • Culture
  • Spirituality
  • Christianity
  • Opinions
  • Greek Version

© 2023 OrthodoxTimes.com - All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptReject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT