Orthodox Church of Ukraine
| Orthodox Church of Ukraine | |
|---|---|
| Православна церква України | |
Emblem of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, depicting a cross with Orans of Kyiv | |
| Abbreviation | OCU |
| Classification | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Scripture | Septuagint, New Testament |
| Theology | Eastern Orthodox theology |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Primate | Epiphanius I, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine |
| Bishops | 62 (as of December 2019) |
| Clergy | 4,500 in total (as of December 2019) |
| Parishes | 6,185 (2022) |
| Monasteries/convents | 71 (both male and female) |
| Language | Ukrainian Church Slavonic Romanian (de jure; nonfunctional vicariate) Greek |
| Liturgy | Byzantine Rite |
| Headquarters | St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, Kyiv |
| Territory | Ukraine |
| Origin | 988, establishment of the Metropolis of Kiev and all Rus'
1448, split of the Muscovite Church 1596, Union of Brest 1620, reestablishment of the Orthodox Church 1685, unilateral annexation by the Moscow Patriarchate 1921, creation of the "Assembly-Ruled" Autocephalous Church 1937, liquidation of the "Assembly-Ruled" Autocephalous Church by Soviet regime 1946, liquidation of all remaining Ukrainian churches 1989, revival Ukrainian religious organizations 1990, formation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church 1992, Unification and establishment of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate 1993, restoration of the smaller Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church 2018, the Unification Council |
| Independence | 5 January 2019 (recognized and autocephaly granted) |
| Recognition | Autocephaly recognized by: Ecumenical Patriarchate (5 January 2019) Patriarchate of Alexandria (8 November 2019) Church of Greece (19 October 2019) Church of Cyprus (24 October 2020) |
| Merger of | UAOC UOC-KP UOC-MP (partly) |
| Separations | Parts of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate on 20 June 2019 (see Conflict between Filaret and Epiphanius) |
| Members | 78% of the Ukrainian Orthodox population (March 2022, study by Info Sapiens; 52% of the entire population of Ukraine) |
| Other name(s) | Ukrainian Orthodox Church Most Holy Church of Ukraine |
| Official website | www |
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| Part of a series on the |
| Eastern Orthodox Church |
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| Overview |
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Православна церква України, romanized: Pravoslavna tserkva Ukrainy; OCU), also called the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is an Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine. It was granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople on 6 January 2019.
Some of the Eastern Orthodox Churches recognize the Orthodox Church of Ukraine as the only canonical successor of the Metropolis of Kyiv, while the Catholic Church recognizes the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church as the only canonical successor.
The church was established under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople by a unification council that convened in Kyiv on 15 December 2018, following which Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I granted it a tomos of autocephaly. The unification council united the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church into the OCU. Two bishops formerly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC-MP) also joined. The unification council elected the Metropolitan of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi and Bila Tserkva, Epiphanius Dumenko, as its primate and as Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
It was also agreed by the council that those "Orthodox Christians of Ukrainian provenance in the Orthodox diaspora" should be subject to the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (per Article 4 of the Statute). This provision is also enshrined in the OCU's tomos of autocephaly. In March 2019, Metropolitan Epiphanius said that the transfer of parishes of the dissolved Kyiv Patriarchate to the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate had already begun.
The establishment of the OCU and its recognition by other autocephalic Orthodox Churches has been opposed by the Russian Orthodox Church as well as by the Government of Russia.
According to some sources, the OCU is the largest church in Ukraine, while other sources leave that attribute to the UOC-MP, both of which have claimed full independence and autonomy. Since the August 2024 adoption of a law against religious organisations collaborating with an aggressor state (Russia), the UOC-MP has been at risk of being banned by the Ukrainian government.