Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church


The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was one of the three major Orthodox churches in Ukraine. It was reestablished for the third time in 1990, right before the fall of the Soviet Union. The UAOC, in its contemporary form, has its origins in the Sobor of 1921 in Kiev, shortly after Ukraine's newly found independence. On 15 December 2018, at the Unification Council, the UAOC and the UOC-KP, along with metropolitans from the UOC-MP, unified into the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Metropolitan Epiphany was elected as the new Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
During the UAOC and the UOC-KP's existence, only the UOC-MP enjoyed recognition by the Orthodox Christian community worldwide, until 11 October 2018, when the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople lifted the excommunication which afflicted the UAOC and the UOC-KP. It was later clarified on 2 November that the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized neither the UAOC nor the UOC-KP as legitimate and that their respective leaders were not recognized as primates of their churches.

History

The Kievan Metropolis was the fruit of the baptism of the Kievan Rus in the time of Grand Prince Vladimir the Great. Missionaries were sent from Constantinople to instruct the people in the Byzantine-Orthodox faith. Monastic life flourished, including in the famous Kiev Monastery of the Caves, through the efforts of St. Anthony of Kiev, known as the father of Russian monasticism.
The sacking of Kiev itself in December 1240 during the Mongol invasion led to the ultimate collapse of the Rus' state. For many of its residents, the brutality of Mongol attacks sealed the fate of many choosing to find safe haven in the North East. In 1299, the Kievan metropolitan chair was moved to Vladimir by Metropolitan Maximus, keeping the title of Kiev. As Vladimir-Suzdal, and later the Grand Duchy of Moscow continued to grow unhindered, the Orthodox religious link between them and Kiev remained strong. The fall of Constantinople in 1453, allowed the once daughter church of North East, to become autocephalous, with Kiev remaining part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. From that moment on, the Churches of Ukraine and Russia went their own separate ways. The latter became central in the growing Russian Tsardom, attaining patriarchate in 1589, whilst the former became subject to repression and Polonization efforts, particularly after the Union of Brest in 1596. Eventually the persecution of Orthodox Ukrainians led to a massive rebellion under Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and united the Ukrainian Hetmanate with the Russian Tsardom, and in 1686, the Kievan Metropolia came under the Moscow Patriarchate. Ukrainian clergy, for their Greek training, held key roles in the Russian Orthodox Church until the end of the 18th century.
In the wake of the breakup of the Russian Empire some national groups sought autonomy or autocephaly from Moscow. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was proclaimed under the Ukrainian National Republic in 1917 and survived in Soviet Ukraine until the early 1930s.
In 1921 an All-Ukrainian Sobor was called in Kiev, the capital of the newly independent Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was declared independent from the Moscow Patriarchate. The Sobor delegates chose Metropolitan Vasyl Lypkivsky as head of the church. The 1921 Sobor has become known as the "first resurrection" of the UAOC.
Metropolitans Vasyl Lypkivsky and Mykola Boretsky were eminent UAOC preachers. From the 1930s sermons in Soviet Ukraine were delivered mostly in Russian. Until 1944 the Orthodox theological seminaries in Western Ukraine taught homiletics; sermons were published in periodicals and separately in books such as Archbishop Aleksy Gromadsky.
Ukrainian independence was short-lived in this period, and in 1922 the USSR came into being. The Soviets introduced an atheistic regime, though initially the church was allowed to function, as a tool against the more adverse Russian Orthodox Church, from 1930s the UAOC too was persecuted, and eventually disbanded in Soviet Ukraine.
During World War II, when Ukraine was a battleground between the German and Soviet Armies, Orthodox Ukrainians enjoyed somewhat increased freedom under German occupation. In May 1942, with the blessing of Metropolitan Dionisiy, more than a dozen bishops were consecrated in St. Andrew Cathedral, Kiev, in fulfillment of the 1924 tomos of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Finally, it seemed that ecclesiastical order could be established for the UAOC. This time is referred to as the "second resurrection" of the church. However, it was short-lived.
On 8 October 1942, Archbishop Nikanor Abrymovych and Bishop Mstyslav Skrypnyk of the UAOC and Metropolitan Oleksiy Hromadsky of the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church entered into an Act of Union at the Pochayiv Lavra uniting these two church hierarchies. Pro-Russian hierarchs of the Autonomous Church convinced Metropolitan Oleksiy to withdraw his signature. Metropolitan Oleksiy was allegedly executed in Volhynia on 7 May 1943 by members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
The Russian Orthodox Church regained its general monopoly after World War II in the Ukrainian SSR. Most of the other churches were liquidated, as the Soviet government only recognized the Moscow Patriarchate. The MP was revived at the time as the only legitimate church in most of the Soviet Union. Many accused it of being a puppet of the Communist Party. Any UAOC hierarchs or clergy who remained in Ukraine and refused to join the Russian Church were executed or sent to concentration camps. A few years later the same thing happened to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Western Ukraine, in Galicia and Transcarpathia. Several UAOC bishops and priests were able to escape to the West.

Contemporary situation

The church regained state recognition in 1991, which is known as the "third resurrection" of the UAOC. Initially it was governed from abroad by Patriarch Mstyslav. Subsequent to his death in 1993, he was succeeded by Patriarch Volodomyr. The Patriarch would, during his time as patriarch, separate from the UAOC to found the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kiev Patriarchate, together with Metropolitan Filaret Denysenko. Those not willing to accept this change continued the UAOC with a new primate, Patriarch Dymytriy Yarema.
Meanwhile, in the Diaspora, some bishops of the UAOC in the US decided in 1996 to place themselves and their parishes under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, thereby relinquishing the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church and forming instead an eparchy of the Ecumenical Throne.
In 1996, Metropolitan Stephan, committed to preserving the autocephalous nature of the Church and who had been active in assisting in its revitalization following the Soviet period in both the West and Ukraine, received formal authorization from Senior Hierarchs of the UAOC in Ukraine to maintain autocephaly in the West, especially in the United States. While in Ukraine Stephan was formally authorized to lead the UAOC as a self-governing entity in North and South America. Metropolitan Stephan retired in June 2004 due to illness. Later he attempted to regain his position but without success. Metropolitan Stephen's successor is Metropolitan Mykhayil. Stephen Petrovich's claim to now be the most senior UAOC in the Americas is without foundation; he is now retired.
On October 16, 2000, the Church Sobor in Ukraine elected Metropolitan Mefodiy of Ternopil to lead the church. As father and head of the UAOC worldwide, he was Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Rus-Ukraine. After his elevation, he worked towards a more global visibility for the church, including a pastoral visit to the United States in 2006 where he was the guest of Metropolitan Mykhayil and the Metropolia of the Diaspora. He also travelled to Western Europe. He fostered continued positive relations with the Ukrainian government and other religious communities. Metropolitan Mefodiy died in 2015. The choice of Metropolitan Makariy as his successor is contested by those loyal to the memory of Metropolitan Mefodiy, whose open approach toward those outside Ukraine is not shared by Makariy.
The UAOC, with over 3 million members, is not officially recognized by other Churches due to pressures from the Russian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate. It has, however, been invited and does participate in Orthodox synods and conferences. The Ecumenical Patriarch has maintained direct dialogue with the Church but remains very sensitive to the Moscow Patriarchate's opposition to any independent Churches in Ukraine.
Under the personal supervision of Metropolitan Mefodiy, the Ternopil Orthodox Theological Academy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was renovated and its course of studies completely updated to conform to contemporary academic standards. On October 18, 2008, the first diplomas of the newly accredited theological school were awarded to qualified graduates in a ceremony in the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Ternopil. Presiding at the commencement ceremony, at the invitation of Metropolitan Mefodiy, was the UAOC Metropolitan of New York and America, Mykhayil.
The Patriarchal Cathedral of the UAOC is the historic Church of St. Andrew the First-Called in Kiev. It was built between 1747 and 1754 and was designed by the famous architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Although used for regular liturgical services of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the edifice had previously been a part of the historical park "Sofia-Kiev." The Ukrainian government returned the church to the legal possession of the UAOC on 21 May 2008.
Geographically the church currently has a stronger presence in Western Ukrainian provinces with a smaller representation elsewhere. Previous to 1995, there were more parishes abroad in the Ukrainian diaspora communities of Canada and the United States. However, many of these parishes now form separate churches: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, both eparchies of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

11 October 2018 decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

On 11 October 2018, after a regular synod, the Patriarchate of Constantinople renewed an earlier decision to move towards granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The synod also withdrew Constantinople's 332-years-old qualified acceptance of the Russian Orthodox Church's canonical jurisdiction over the Ukrainian Church contained in a letter of 1686. The synod also lifted the excommunication of Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kiev Patriarchate and Metropolitan Makariy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and both bishops were "canonically reinstated to their hierarchical or priestly rank, and their faithful restored to communion with the Church."
It was later clarified that Filaret was considered by the Ecumenical Patriarchate only as "the former metropolitan of Kiev", and Makariy as "the former Archbishop of Lviv" and, on 2 November 2018, that the Ecumenical Patriarchate did not recognize neither the UAOC nor the UOC-KP as legitimate and that their respective leaders were not recognized as primates of their churches. The Ecumenical Patriarchate declared that it recognized the sacraments performed by the UOC-KP and the UAOC as valid.

Dissolution and merger with the UOC–KP into the OCU

On 15 December 2018, the hierarchs of the UAOC decided to dissolve the UAOC, and the hierarchs of the UOC-KP decided to dissolve the UOC-KP. This was done because on the same day the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kiev Patriarchate, and some members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were going to merge to form the Orthodox Church of Ukraine after a unification council.
Makariy declared in an interview published on 23 May 2019 that neither the UAOC nor the UOC-KP had been dissolved: "Some government officials spoke incorrectly when they publicly declared that the Kiev Patriarchate was liquidated." He explained that Philaret submitted only copies of documents, not the originals necessary in order to liquidate the UOC-KP. Macarius added: "When I was asked to hand over the documents for liquidation, I replied that until I see the originals from the other side, I will not turn in mine."
On 14 August 2019, the UAOC legally ceased to exist because its legal entity merged with the legal entity of the OCU.
On 14 December 2019, after the meeting of the enlarged Bishops' Council, held on December 14 in Kiev on the occasion of the anniversary of the creation of the OCU, Epiphanius delared 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.

Primates

1921–1936

In 1921, with the establishment of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine was considered the primate of the church. This system continued until 1936 when, due to Soviet pressure, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was liquidated, with some of its members emigrating to the United States. The primates from 1921 to 1936 were:
In 1942, UAOC was re-established with help of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church during occupation of Ukraine by Nazi Germany. This period lasted till the return of the Red Army in 1944, after that the UAOC was again liquidated for a second time and remained structured only in the Ukrainian diaspora.

1990–15 December 2018

In 1990 the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was reinstated in Ukraine, and the former Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada metropolitan, Mstyslav, was enthroned as a patriarch. Since 2000, the church primate has been the Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine.
Metropolitan Epiphany of Kyiv and All Ukraine was elected primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on 15 December 2018.