Ukrainian Church: description, history, features and interesting facts

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The Ukrainian Church originates from the formation of the Kyiv Metropolis of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 988. In the 17th century, it came under the control of the Moscow Patriarchate, which was once established as a result of the activities of the Metropolitans of Kyiv. Of the many church denominations, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has the largest number.

Religions in Ukraine

The main religion for the majority of Ukrainian citizens is Orthodoxy. However, this does not negate the fact that in addition to Christianity, there are other beliefs in the country: Judaism, Jessian Judaism, Islam, Jehovah's Witnesses, Hinduism, Buddhism, neo-paganism.

Christianity, which also consists of many other directions, is one of the most popular religions today. The number of its believers, according to various sources, is more than 10 million.human. Protestantism also occupies a considerable share (4.8 million). It is also worth noting that the Protestant Church occupies a share of 28.7% among all believers in Ukraine. The rest of the organizations average 100,000 followers each.

Church associations

According to the law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations", all religious associations of the Ukrainian church do not participate in government and have their structures registered as independent legal entities. There are several dozen church communities in the country. The most significant of them are presented below.

• Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
• Ukrainian Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate.
• Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church in Lviv. One of the most famous.
• Ukrainian Autocephalous Church.
• Ukrainian Autocephalous Church canonical.
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada. Many emigrants also know about it.
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA.

Most organizations are Orthodox.

Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate

One cannot talk about religion in Ukraine without talking about the history of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, because at the moment it is the most popular among believing citizens in the country. It originates from the appearance of Orthodoxy in Ukraine, as such. For a long time it was under the control of the Church of Constantinople, and it was ruled by appointedGreek Patriarch of Constantinople.

The years 1051 and 1147 marked the first attempts to gain independence by electing local metropolitans. In 1686, the Kyiv Metropolis was completely withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and transferred to the subordination of the Moscow Church, and later became a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. At the beginning of the 20th century, unrest within the state power of the Russian Empire negatively affected the viability of the Russian Orthodox Church, reducing its influence.

Ukrainian Church in the USA and Canada

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada is predominantly made up of Ukrainians of Canadian origin. It has been under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople since April 1, 1990, and its origin began in the cities of Sakatun and Saskatchewan in 1918. At the same time, the first cathedral and seminary opened in Sakatoon.

In the 1950s, contact was made with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in other countries. Prior to that, it was called the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada. Its main administrative center is located in the city of Winnipeg. In its buildings, liturgies are held in Church Slavonic, Ukrainian, English and French. In total, there are about 200 Orthodox Ukrainian churches in Canada.

In 1919, as a result of the civil war in Ukraine, several groups of emigrants arrived in the United States and formed the Ukrainian Orthodox Association. As time went. After many changes and transformations, the Ukrainian Orthodox ChurchThe United States, just like Canada, has been under the jurisdiction of Constantinople since 1995. In total at that time there were 150,000 believers. The church is self-governing, its governing body is located in Sound-Bound Brook, New Jersey, divided into Eastern and Western dioceses.

Religious conflict

The Orthodox Church of the Ukrainian Patriarchate is divided into two branches: the Moscow Patriarchate and the Kyiv Patriarchate. The first is fundamental, since it was formed much earlier - in 988. And today the church is subject to the charter of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Kyiv Patriarchate, which arose in 1992, established as a result of the activities of Filaret, appeals to the origins of the Kyiv Metropolitan and the Orthodox Church of Constantinople. Filaret did not agree that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was subordinate to Moscow. So I decided to separate. And is still the founder of the Kyiv Orthodox Church since 1995.

The reason for Filaret's statements about the need and subsequent separation is the perestroika of the 1980s in the USSR, which led to a sharp aggravation of church-political relations. At a time when the power of the Soviet Union over the republics was weakened, in the west of Ukraine they decided to revive Greek Catholicism and an autocephalous religious community. Representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate were unable to influence the situation, due to the unwillingness of the Ukrainian Exarchate to resolve the conflict. As a result, this negligence led to a massive seizure of the property of the Russian Orthodox Church in Western Ukraine.

The continuation of this disagreement can be considered the current situation of the Ukrainian conflict as a whole. It is known that between the Kyiv and Moscow Patriarchates, as one of the most influential, there was a struggle over a long period of history. Since 2016, in Western Ukraine, the Right Sector extremist organization banned in Russia has been using force to force the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate to come under the jurisdiction of Kyiv. This fact was recognized even in the UN.

A little about Ukrainian church buildings

16 Ukrainian ancient wooden churches are included in the UNESCO heritage list, 8 of which are in Poland.

Of the most beautiful buildings, of course, it is worth noting the Kyiv Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, standing on the water, the Holy Dormition Pochaev Lavra, striking in its size, or, for example, the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin - an excellent example of Ukrainian and Elizabethan baroque, striking in its snow-white color.