Kyiv metropolitans: history and current state

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

Many of us know the history of the formation of Christianity in our country. However, not everyone remembers the role that the Kyiv metropolitans played in this matter. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to get acquainted with the main milestones in the history of the Russian Church, as well as with its current state.

How did the Russian Church appear in Kyiv?

The Orthodox Church in Kyiv is the oldest in Russia. It was founded in 988. Its beginning coincided with the fateful decision of Prince Vladimir about the Baptism of his young state.

The first Kyiv archpastors were from Byzantium. It is authentically known that Michael was the first to be appointed to this position, the second was a man named Leonty. The first spiritual mentors needed a lot: they needed to bring the light of the Christian faith to the pagan tribes, translate liturgical books into the local dialect, establish contact with the local elite, and build the first churches.

We point out that the institution of Kyiv bishops itself developed quite actively. So, already in 1051 on thisthe post was appointed by Illarion, the author of the famous "Sermon on Law and Grace". Further, the list of Kyiv metropolitans was continued by many famous figures of spiritual culture: Constantine the Blessed, Fedor, Mikhail and many others.

The impoverishment and revival of the metropolis

A serious problem for Ancient Russia was the infamous Golden Horde invasion and the subsequent yoke, which ended in the complete ruin of the Russian land and the church in Kyiv.

Despite the fact that the population of the state, which was in a state of feudal fragmentation, declined sharply, the institution of bishops continued to exist. Even when the center of Russia from Kyiv was moved to other cities - Vladimir, and later to Moscow, the spiritual mentors continued to call themselves Kyiv.

Kyiv metropolitans did a lot for the country in times of trial. By their example, they supported their compatriots, preached active resistance to the invaders.

After the strengthening of the role of Moscow, this northern city, which became the capital of Medieval Russia, became the center of Russian church life.

The fateful year of the development of the church was 1461, when the Russian Orthodox Church gained independence from the Byzantine Empire, which was under serious pressure from the Ottoman Turks. It was then that the head of the church in Kyiv began to be called Moscow and All Russia. And the spiritual mentors of Western Galician Rus received the title of bishops of Kyiv and Galicia.

Western Kyiv Metropolis

Interesting and instructive fate of the WesternKyiv Church. The Kyiv metropolitans, who called themselves the spiritual mentors of Kyiv and Galicia, were under the strong influence of the Commonwe alth. As a result of strong Catholic influence, the Orthodox bishops of the western outskirts of Russia were forced to agree to accept the union. The Unia assumed that monks, priests and their spiritual children were subordinate to the Pope, but retained the right to serve according to Orthodox Orthodox rites.

This decision was not ecclesiastical, but purely political. Only it helped to preserve the integrity of the Kievan Church of Western Russia itself.

However, as a result of the political events of the accession to Russia, first of the Left Bank, and then of the Right Bank of Ukraine, the Kyiv Church became part of the Moscow Patriarchate, and the Uniate Church was rejected. It happened in 1686.

The history of the development of Orthodoxy in Kyiv from Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov to the Bolshevik revolution

As you know, Peter the Great carried out reforms in all areas, including church life. However, the spiritual clergy in Kyiv found themselves on the outskirts of his powerful empire, so these reforms hardly touched them. Moreover, Peter tried to use the head of the Kyiv Orthodox Church, who was subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchal See, as a political figure, trying to strengthen Russia's influence on the Ukrainian lands.

Therefore, the Russian Orthodox Church existed in tsarist Russia under very favorable conditions of support from the government. And only the reforms of Catherine the Great, carried out in 1762 and 1763,forced the Kievan clergy to give up most of their lands.

In the Soviet years

The persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was announced by the Bolsheviks, changed a lot in Kyiv as well.

However, true luminaries of the faith found themselves here, one of which was Metropolitan John Sokolov. John lived a long life full of trials and joys. In 1944 he was appointed Exarch of Ukraine. He did everything to revive Orthodox churches in this part of the territory of Soviet Ukraine.

Metropolitan Joasaph Lelyukhin was appointed Exarch of Ukraine in 1964. He tried to defend the Church in a difficult time of persecution. He left a noticeable mark in the history of the Ukrainian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

History of the split: 1990-2018

The schism of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is one of the saddest pages in Ukraine's recent history. The reasons for the split were the behavior of the head of the Russian church in Kyiv.

Metropolitan Filaret (Denisenko) deliberately chose a schism after the collapse of the USSR and the refusal of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church to elect him to the post of patriarch. As a result, this post was taken by Patriarch Alexy II.

By the way, the schism itself was predicted back in the middle of the 20th century by the famous Russian Saint Lawrence of Chernigov, who said that it was the head of the church in Kyiv, urged on by pride and acting together with the godless authorities, that would go into schism. However, the same Lawrence predicted that this split would be overcome.

Today Filaret Denisenko is the self-elected patriarch of the Kyiv Patriarchate he created. In the Russian Orthodox Church, this person is anathematized as a schismatic and a traitor to the unity of the church.

At the moment, Filaret is actively supporting Ukrainian radical nationalists, being himself a native of Donbass, he calls on Ukrainian security forces to bomb his small homeland, he is a member of the CIA and other services seeking to weaken Russia in the international arena.