History of Christianity in Ukraine
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/* Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church */
: ''This article should [[Wikipedia:Duplicate articles|include]] material from [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)]], [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate]], [[Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]], [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]], and [[Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko)]].''
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The '''[[History of Christianity]]''' in the lands of modern-day '''[[Ukraine]]''' dates back to the earliest centuries of the [[Twelve Apostles|apostolic]] church. It has remained the dominant [[religion]] in the area since its acceptance in [[988]] by [[Vladimir the Great]], who instated it as the [[state religion]] of [[Kievan Rus']], a [[medieval]] [[East Slavs|East Slavic]] state.
Although separated into various [[Christian denomination|denominations]], most [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] [[Christians]] share a common [[Faith in Christianity|faith]], a unique blend of [[Byzantine church|Byzantine practices]] and [[Slavic mythology]]. These [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian traditions]], in the form of both [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Eastern Catholic Churches]], have been at various historic times closely aligned with Ukrainian [[nationalism|national]] [[Self-concept|self-identity]].
Currently, three major Ukrainian [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Churches]] coexist, and often compete, in the country: the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]], the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate]], and the [[Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]]. Additionally, a significant body of Christians belong to the [[Eastern Rite Catholic Churches|Eastern Rite]] [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]], and a smaller number in the [[Ruthenian Catholic Church]]. While Western Christian traditions such as [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] and [[Protestantism]] have had a limited presence on the territory of Ukraine since at least the [[sixteenth century]], worshipers of these traditions remain a relatively small minority in today's Ukraine.
== Early history ==
[[Image:LomtevNP ApostAndrPervoGTG.jpg|thumb|right|St. Andrew erecting the cross on Kiev heights by [[Nikolay Lomtev]] ]]
Christianity was most likely first introduced into the lands of present-day Ukraine by the [[Goths]], who established the [[Chernyakhov culture]] in the [[2nd century]]. Although not a Christian people as a whole, the incoming [[Ostrogoths]] certainly had relations with Christian centres such as [[Rome]] and had come across [[missionary|missionaries]] in the lands they had previously inhabited; it is therefore believed that some of the Gothic inhabitants of [[Oium]] were Christian, as they had established churches in other lands occupied by the Goths. However, the Gothic control over the area proved to be short-lived, as the [[Hunnic Empire]] swept into the area in the [[4th century]], making any lasting impression by the Goths unlikely.
[[Metropolitan Ilarion (Ivan Ohienko)]] and other scholars have suggested that earlier [[Cucuteni culture|Trypillian]] and Scythian religious practices, and hierarchical [[pantheism]], influenced Christianity's later development in Ukraine.<ref name="Wilson">Andrew Wilson (historian)|Wilson, Andrew]] (2000). ''The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation'', Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-09309-8; pages 33-37</ref>
===Saint Andrew===
[[Image:Kijow.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[St Andrew's Church of Kiev]] marks a legendary location where [[St Andrew]] erected the apostle's cross and prophesied the creation of the great Christian city.]]
[[Saint Andrew]] the [[Twelve apostles|apostle]] is believed to have traveled up the western shores of the [[Black Sea]], to the area of present-day southern Ukraine, while preaching in the lands of [[Scythia]]. Legend has it that he traveled further still, up the [[Dnieper River]], until he came to the location of present-day [[Kiev]] in 55 AD, where he erected a [[cross]] and prophesied the foundation of a great Christian city. Belief in the [[missionary]] visit of St. Andrew became widespread by the [[Middle Ages]], and by [[1621]], a [[Synod of Kiev (1621)|Kiev synod]] had declared him the "Rus'-apostle".<ref name="Wilson"/> [[Saint Titus]], a disciple of St. Andrew's, is also venerated in Ukrainian churches, as are three "[[Scythians|Scythian]]" disciples, Saints Ina, Pina and Rima, who accompanied him to the Kiev.<ref>[http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Vfdy62b67T0J:www.byzcath.org/sites/alex/web/All-Kievan-Saints.pdf+Theophylact+Rus%27&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us List of All Kievan Saints] at the [http://www.byzcath.org Byzantine Catholic Church in America]</ref> Both the eighteenth century [[St Andrew's Church of Kiev|Church of St Andrew]] and an earlier structure from [[1086]] it replaced were purportedly built on the very location of the apostle's cross, planted on a hill overlooking the city of Kiev.
Although the [[Primary Chronicle]] refers to the apostle continuing his journey as far north as [[Novgorod]], St. Andrew's visit to any of these lands has not been proven, and in fact may have been a later invention designed to boost the [[Autocephaly|autocephalic]] aspirations in the territories where the upper clergy continued to be dominated by Greeks for several centuries.<ref>{{uk icon}} Panas, Kost' (1992). ''History of the Ukrainian Church (Історія української церкви)'', Transintekh; p. 12.</ref>
===Crimean roots===
[[Image:Kersones st vladimir.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The ruins of Korsun ([[Chersonesos]]) [[Crimea]], a place where the East Slavic Christianity was born.]]
According to a [[9th-century]] tradition, [[Pope Clement I]] (ruled [[88]]-[[98]]) was exiled to [[Chersonesos]] on the [[Crimea|Crimean peninsula]] in [[102]], as was [[Pope Martin I]] in [[655]]. Furthermore, it has been definitively recorded that a representative from the Black Sea area, the "head of the Scythian bishopric," was present at the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in [[325]], as well as the [[First Council of Constantinople]] in [[381]]; it has been surmised that this representative would have to have been Bishop Cadmus of the [[Bosporan Kingdom]]. [[Ostrogoths]], who remained on present-day Ukrainian lands after the [[Hunnic Empire|invasion of the Huns]], established a [[Ecclesiastical province|metropolinate]] under the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Bishop of Constantinople]] at [[Dorus (Crimea)|Dorus]] in northern Crimea around the year [[400]]. A [[Diocese|bishop's seat]] had also existed since [[868]] across the [[Strait of Kerch]], in the ancient city of [[Tmutarakan]]. The [[Polans (eastern)|Polans]] and the [[Antes culture]]s, located so close to the Crimea, surely became familiarized with Christianity by this time.
===Saints Cyril and Methodius===
[[Image:Cyril Methodius25K.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An Eastern Orthodox Icon depicting [[Equal-to-apostles]] Cyril and Methodius brothers as the Christian Saints.]]
The relics of Pope St. Martin were allegedly retrieved by the "[[Equal-to-apostles]]" brothers [[Saints Cyril and Methodius]], who passed through present-day Ukraine on their way to preach to the [[Khazars]]. Sent from Constantinople at the request of the ruler of [[Great Moravia]], these brothers would add to foundation of Christianity in Ukraine by creating the [[Glagolitic alphabet]], a precursor to the [[eponym]]ous "[[Early Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic script]]", which enabled the local population to worship God in [[Old Church Slavonic]], a language closer to the [[vernacular]] [[Old East Slavic language]] than the [[Greek language|Greek]] used to worship in Constantinople, or [[Latin]] in the west.
In response to local disputes with clerics of the Latin Church, Cyril and Methodius appealed in person to the [[Pope|Bishop of Rome]] in [[867]], bringing with them the relics of Pope St. Martin from Chersonesos. Their labors and request were met with approval, and their continued efforts planted the Christian faith into Ukraine. By [[906]], they had founded a diocese in [[Przemyśl|Peremyshl]], now Przemyśl in present-day [[Poland]], at the western edge of Ukraine. Their efforts, and those of their apostles, led to the translation of [[Bible|Christian Scriptures]] and service (liturgies) from Greek to Slavonic, and the eventual development of the modern [[Cyrillic alphabet]].
==Early Rus' period==
{{Main|Christianization of the Rus' Khaganate|Christianization of Kievan Rus'}}
[[Image:PerovVG PervHristianKievGRM.jpg|225px|right|thumb|Cladnestine Christian communities existed in the [[Pagan]] Rus' long before the Christianization. ''First Christians in Kiev'' by [[Vasily Perov]].]]
By the [[9th century]], it is known that the [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] population of western Ukraine (likely the [[White Croats]]) had accepted Christianity while under the rule of [[Great Moravia]]. However, it was the [[East Slavs]] who came to dominate most of the territory of present-day Ukraine, beginning with the rule of the [[Rus' (people)|Rus']], whose [[Slavic mythology#Pantheon|pantheon of gods]] had held a considerable following for over 600 years.
Following the [[Rus'-Byzantine War (860)|860 assault on Constantinople]] by Rus' forces under the command of [[Askold and Dir]], the two princes were baptized in that holy city. Returning to Kiev, the two actively championed Christianity for a period of 20 years, until they were murdered by the [[pagan]] [[Oleg of Novgorod|Prince Oleg]] in the inter-princely rivalry for the Kiev throne. [[Ecumenical Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople|Patriarch Photios]] purportedly provided a bishop and priests from [[Constantinople]] to help in the [[Christianization]] of the Slavs.<ref>Chirovsky, Nicholas (1981). ''Ancient and Kievan-Galician Ukraine-Rus'', Philosophical Library; page 216.</ref> By [[900]], a [[church]] was already established in Kiev, St. Elijah's, modeled on a church of the same name in Constantinople. This gradual acceptance of Christianity is most notable in the [[Rus'-Byzantine Treaty (945)|Rus'-Byzantine Treaty]] of [[945]], which was signed by both "baptized" and unbaptized Rus'", according to the text included in the [[Primary Chronicle]].
Christianity acceptance among the Rus' nobility gained a vital proponent when [[Princess Olga]], the ruler of [[Kiev]], became baptized, taking the "[[Given name|Christian name]]" ''Helen''. Her baptism in [[955]] (or [[957]]) in either Kiev or Constantinople (accounts differ) was a turning point in religious life of Rus' but it was left to her grandson, [[Vladimir the Great]], to make Kievan Rus' a Christian state. Both Vladimir and Olga are venerated as the [[Equal-to-apostles|Equal-to-apostles saints]] by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].
[[Image:Kiev vasnetcov.jpg|225px|thumb|right|''The [[Baptism of Kiev]]ans'', a fresco by [[Viktor Vasnetsov]].]]
Christianity became dominant in the territory with the mass [[Baptism of Kiev]] in the [[Dnieper River]] in [[988]] ordered by Vladimir. Following the [[East-West Schism|Great Schism]] in [[1054]], the [[Kievan Rus']] that incorporated most of modern Ukraine ended up on the [[Eastern Orthodox]] side of the divided Christian world.
Early on, the Orthodox Christian [[metropolitan bishop|metropolitan]]s had their seat in [[Pereyaslav]], and later in Kiev. The people of Kiev lost their Metropolitan to [[Vladimir-Suzdal]] in [[1299]] (who retained the title), but gained a new Metropolitan in [[Halych]] in [[1303]]. The religious affairs were also ruled in part by a Metropolitan in [[Navahrudak]], (present-day [[Belarus]]).
==After the Breakup of the Kievan Rus==
In the 1400s, the primacy over the Ukrainian church was restored to Kiev, under the title "[[Metropolitan of Kiev and Halych]]". One clause of the [[Union of Krevo]] stipulated that [[Jagiello]] would disseminate [[Roman Catholicism]] among Orthodox subjects of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], of which Ukraine was a part. The opposition from the [[Ostrohski]]s and other Orthodox [[magnate]]s led to this policy being suspended in the early 16th century.
Following the [[Union of Lublin]], the [[Polonization]] of the Ukrainian church was accelerated. Unlike the Roman Catholic church, the Orthodox church in Ukraine was liable to various taxes and legal obligations. The building of new Orthodox churches was strongly discouraged. The Roman Catholics were strictly forbidden to convert to Orthodoxy, and the marriages between Catholics and Orthodox were frowned upon. Orthodox subjects had been increasingly barred from high offices of state.<ref name=KostOstr>{{Ru icon}} [[Nikolay Kostomarov]], ''"Russian History in Biographies of its main figures"'', Chapter ''[http://www.kulichki.com/inkwell/text/special/history/kostom/kostom22.htm Knyaz Kostantin Konstantinovich Ostrozhsky]''" ([[Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski]])</ref>
===Union of Brest and its aftermath===
''Main article [[Union of Brest]]''
In order to oppose such restrictions and to reverse cultural polonization of Orthodox bishops, the [[Ecumenical Patriarch]] encouraged the activity of the Orthodox urban communities called the "brotherhoods" ''(bratstvo)''. In [[1589]] [[Hedeon Balaban]], the bishop of [[Lviv]], asked the Pope to take him under his protection, because he was exasperated by the struggle with urban communities and the Ecumenical Patriarch. He was followed by the bishops of [[Lutsk]], [[Cholm]], and [[Turov]] in [[1590]]. In the following years, the bishops of [[Volodymyr-Volynskyy]] and [[Przemysl]] and the Metropolitan of [[Kiev]] announced their secession from the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In [[1595]] some representatives of this group arrived to [[Rome]] and asked the Pope to take them under his jurisdiction.
In the [[Union of Brest]] of [[1596]] (colloquially known as ''unia''), a part of the Ukrainian Church was accepted under the jurisdiction of the Roman Pope, becoming a [[Eastern Rite|Byzantine Rite Catholic Church]], a [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]], colloquially known as Uniate Church. While the new church gained many faithful among the [[Ukrainians]] in [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]], the majority of Ukrainians in the rest of the lands remained within [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] with the church affairs ruled by then from Kiev under the metropolitan [[Peter Mogila]] ''(Petro Mohyla)''. The eastward spread of the Union of Brest led to violent clashes, for example, assassination of the [[Uniate]] [[archbishop]] [[Josaphat Kuncevych]] by the Orthodox mob in [[Polotsk]] in [[1623]].
===Khmelnytsky Uprising===
{{main|Khmelnytsky Uprising}}
As the ''unia'' continued its expansion into Ukraine, its unpopularity grew, particularly in the southern [[steppe]]s where [[Dnieper Cossacks]] lived. The Cossacks valued their traditions and culture saw the ''unia'' as a final step of [[Polonization]]. As a result they reacted by becoming fierce proponents of Orthodoxy. Such feelings played a role in the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising|mass uprising]] whose targets included all non-Orthodox religious proponents, the Catholic and Uniate clergy and Jews. During this time metropolitan [[Peter Mogila|Mogila]] took full advantage of the moment to restore the Orthodox domination in Ukraine, including returning one of its sacred buildings, the [[Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev]].
==Rule of the Empires==
{{main|Russian Orthodox Church}}
===Territories gained by Pereyaslav Rada===
In [[1686]], 40 years after [[Peter Mogila|Mogila's]] death, the [[Ottomans]], acting on the behalf of the [[regent]] of Russia [[Sophia Alekseyevna]], pressured the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]] into transferring the Orthodox Church of Kiev and all Rus' from the jurisdiction of Constantinople to the [[Patriarch of Moscow]], established a century prior to that. The legality of this step is occasionally questioned to this day along with the fact that the transfer was accompanied by graft and bribery, which in church affairs amounts to an ecclesiastical crime. The transfer itself, however, led to the significant Ukrainian domination of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], which continued well into the 18th century, [[Feofan Prokopovich]], [[Epifany Slavinetsky]], [[Stephen Yavorsky]] and [[Demetrius of Rostov]] being among the most notable representatives of this trend.<ref name=Kargamanov>"As a result, the Kievans practically controlled the Russian church obtaining key posts there (and holding them to almost the end of the 18th century)"<br>Yuri Kagramanov, "[http://magazines.russ.ru/novyi_mi/2006/8/ka10.html The war of languages in Ukraine]", [[Novy Mir]], 2006, № 8</ref>
===Territories gained from Crimean Khanate===
In the late 18th century, the [[Crimean Khanate]] (Vassal for Ottoman Empire) was conquered by Russia, and the latter annexed most of the southern steppes and Crimea. Colonization of these lands was actively encouraged by Orthodox people, particularly Ukrainians, Russians and Serbs. As [[New Russia]] (Novorossiya, as it was then known) was settled, new Orthodox parishes were created. Construction of Cathedrals that demonstrate some of the finest examples of late 19th century [[Russian Architecture]] was undertaken in large cities such as [[Odessa]] and [[Sevastopol]].
===Territories gained from partitions===
In the late 17th century the Poland became less and less influential and internal corruption as well as the pressure from its powerful neighbors resulted in its [[Partitions of Poland|partitions]] by neighbouring empires. The [[Russian Empire]], in particular, gained most of ethnically [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] land and all of the [[Belarusians|Belarusian]] lands. After nearely two centuries of [[polonization]], the Uniate influence on the Ukrainian population was so great that hardly any remained Orthodox. Although some, particularly in [[Podolia]], chose to revert to Orthodoxy soon after, this in many cases was an exception rather than trend and in locations where the Unia already gave deep roots into the population all of the church property remained in the Catholic and Uniate authority. Also significant was Empress [[Catherine II]]'s decree "On the newly acquired territory", according to which most of the Polish magnates retained all their lands and property (thus a significant control over population) in the newly acquired lands.
Nevertheless the first [[Russophilia|Russophile]] tendencies began to surface, and came in face of the Uniate Bishop [[Joseph Semashko]]. Believing that the Uniate Church's role as an interim bridge between [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodoxy]] and their eventual path to [[Catholicism]] is over now that the ruler of the lands is no longer a Catholic, but an Orthodox Monarch, he began to push for an eventual reversion of all Uniates. Although the idea was shared by most of the lower priests, the ruling Uniate [[synod]], controlled by the strong Polish influence, rejected all Semashko's suggestions. In addition many of the Latin Catholic authorities responded to this by actively converting the Uniates into pure [[Latin Rite]] Catholicism.
In [[1831]], the general discontent of the Poles with the Russian rule erupted into a revolt, now known as the [[November Uprising]], which the Uniate Church officially supported. However, the uprising failed, and the Russian authority were quick to respond to its organisers and areas of strongest support. The outcome was that the Uniate synod's members were removed along with most of the Polish magnates privliges' and authority being taken away. With the Polish influence in the Ruthenian lands significantly reduced and in some cases eliminated, the Uniate Church began to disintegrate. In [[Volhynia]] the famous [[Pochayiv Lavra]] was returned to the Orthodoxy in [[1833]]. The final blow came from the Uniate [[Synod of Polotsk]] in [[1839]] headed by Bishop Semashko, where it was agreed to terminate the accords of [[Union of Brest]] and all remaining Uniate property on the territory of the [[Russian Empire]] was reincorporated into the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].
[[Image:PochaevInside.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Pochayiv Lavra]], located right next to the border of the [[Russian Empire]] and [[Austro-Hungary]] after its return to Orthdoxy in [[1833]] became a major bastion against the Catholic-ruled [[Galicia]].]]
===Austrian Galicia and World War I===
Although the [[Partitions of Poland]] awarded most of the Ruthenian lands to the [[Russian Empire]], this excluded the southwestern [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Kingdom Of Galicia]] (constituting the modern [[Lviv Oblast|Lviv]], [[Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast|Ivano-Frankivsk]] and parts of [[Ternopil Oblast|Ternopil]] oblasts), which fell under the control of the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]]. Similarly to the situation in the lands of the Russian Empire, the uniate Ruthenian (Ukrainian) peasantry was largely under the Polish Latin Catholic domination. The Austrians granted equal legal privileges to the Uniate Church and removed Polish influence. As a result, within Austrian Galicia over the next century the Uniate Church ceased being a puppet of foreign interests and became the primary cultural force within the Ukrainian community. Most independent native Ukrainian cultural trends (such as Rusynophilia, [[Russophilia]] and later Ukrainophilia) emerged from within the ranks of the Uniate Church. For many people, the Austrians were seen as having saved the Ukrainians and their Church from the Poles.
During the nineteenth century there was a struggle within the Uniate Church (and therefore within the general Galician society) between [[Ukrainian Russophiles|Russophiles]] who desired union with Russia and Ukrainophiles who saw the Galician Ruthenians as Ukrainians, not Russians. The former group were mostly represented by older and more conservative elements of the priesthood, while the latter ideology was more popular among the younger priests. The [[Russophilia]] of the Galician [[Ruthenians]] was particularly strong during the mid-19th century, although by the end of that century the Russophiles had declined in importance relative to the Ukrainophiles.<ref name=Subtelny>{{cite book| author=Subtelny, O. | title=Ukraine: A History| location= Toronto | publisher= University of Toronto Press|year = 1988| }}</ref> The Austrian authorities during this time began to be more and more involved in the power-struggle with Russia for the rule of the [[Balkans]], as the declining [[Ottoman Empire]] withdrew, and in so doing opposed the Russophiles. The Balkans themselves were largely Orthodox and crucial to the Russian [[Panslavism]] movement. In this situation, the Galician Ruthenians found themselves in the pawn's position.
When the power struggle erupted into the [[First World War]], the [[Russian Army]] initially quickly overran Galicia (see [[Eastern Front (World War I)]]). Free of Polish domination,<!---please read POLONIZATION article before weaselizing this with "influences"---> unlike in other areas of Ukraine the Uniate church had become closely linked to the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian national movement. For this reason, the population in general were quite loyal to the [[Austrian Habsburgs]], earning the nickname "Tyroleans of the East",<ref name=Magosci>{{cite book| author=Magoscy, R. | title=A History of Ukraine| location= Toronto | publisher= University of Toronto Press | year = 1996| }}</ref><ref name=Subtelny>{{cite book| author=Subtelny, O. | title=Ukraine: A History| location= Toronto | publisher= University of Toronto Press|year = 1988| }}</ref> and resisted reunion into the Orthodox Church. A minority of them, however, welcomed the Russians and reverted to Orthodoxy. After regaining the lost territories with the counterattack in late [[1914]], the Austrian authorities responded with repressions: several thousand Orthodox and Russophilic people died while being interred at a [[Talerhof]] concentration camp for those deemed disloyal to Austria. Already a minority, the Russophiles were largely extinguished as a religious-cultural force in Galicia as a result of these actions.
==Twentieth century==
===Soviet Union===
After the [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Russian Revolution]] and the [[Russian Civil War]] the Bolsheviks seized power in the [[Russian Empire]] and transformed it into the [[Soviet Union]]. Religion in the new [[socialist]] society was assigned little value by the state, but in particular [[Russian Orthodox Church]] was distrusted because of its active supportive of the [[White Movement]]. Massive arrests and repressions began immediately. In the [[Ukrainian SSR]] (one of the founding republics of the USSR) as early as in December [[1918]] the first execution of the head of the Ukrainian Exarchate Metropolitan of Kiev and [[Halych]] took place. This was only the start which culminated in mass closing and destruction of churches that (some standing since the days of the [[Kievan Rus]]) and executions of clergy and followers.
Ukraine was controlled by several [[Ukraine after Russian Revolution|short-lived yet independent governments]] which revived the Ukrainian national idea. Ukraine declared its political independence following the fall of the [[Provisional Government]] in 1918 and the [[Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]] was established.
Following the Soviet regime's taking root in Ukraine and despite the ongoing Soviet-wide antireligious campaign, the Bolshevik authorities saw the national churches as a tool in their goal to suppress the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] always viewed with the great suspicion by the regime for its being the cornerstone of pre-revolutionary [[Russian Empire]] and the initially strong opposition the church took towards the regime change (the position of the [[patriarch]] [[Tikhon of Moscow]] was especially critical).
In [[1921]] the first formation of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) was recognized. The [[Russian Orthodox Church]] strongly opposed the formation of the Ukrainian autocephaly and not a single ordained bishop was willing or able to ordain the hierarchy for a new Church. Therefore, the clergy "ordained" its own hierarchy itself, a practice questionable under the [[canon law]], in the "Alexandrian" manner - by laying on priests' hands on two senior candidates who became known as [[Metropolitan Vasyl (Lypkivsky)]] and [[Archbishop Nestor (Sharayivsky)]] (reportedly the relics of St. Clement of Rome who died in Ukraine in the first century were also used).<ref>[http://www.unicorne.org/ORTHODOXY/articles/contributors/articles/historyuocc.htm A Brief History of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Despite the [[canon law]] controversy, the new church was recognized in 1924 by the [[Ecumenical Patriarch]] Gregory VII.{{fact|date=February 2007}}
In the wake of the [[Ukrainization]] policies carried out in Soviet Ukraine in the first decade of the Soviet rule many of the Orthodox clergy willfully joined the church thus avoiding the persecution suffered by many clergy members who remained inside the Russian Orthodox Church. During the period in which the Soviet government tolerated the renewed Ukrainian national church the UAOC gained a wide following particularly among the Ukrainian peasantry.<ref>{{cite book| author=Robert Conquest | title=The harvest of sorrow: Soviet collectivization and the terror-famine.| location= Oxford, United Kingdom | publisher= Oxford University Press| year = 1986 |isbn=0-19-505180-7 |pages=211-212}}</ref>
In the early-[[1930s]] the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] government abruptly reversed the policies in the national republics and mass arrests of UAOC's hierarchy and clergy culminated in the liquidation of the church in 1930. Most of the property was officially transferred to the ROC, with some churches closed for good and destroyed. On the eve of the [[Second World War]] only 3% of the pre-revolutionary parishes on the territory of Ukraine remained open to the public, often hidden in deep rural areas.
===Second Polish Republic===
The 1921 [[Peace of Riga]] treaty that ended the [[Polish-Soviet War]] gave the significant areas of the ethnically Ukrainian (and Belarusian) territories to the reborn [[Second Polish Republic|Polish state]]. This included [[Polesie]] and [[Volhynia]], areas with almost exclusively Orthodox population amongst the rural peasants, as well as the former Austrian province of [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] with its [[Uniate]] population.
The Greek Catholic church, which functions in communion with the [[Latin Rite]] Catholicism, could have hoped to receive a better treatment in Poland, whose leadership, especially the ''[[endecja]]'' party, saw the Catholicism as one of the main tools to unify the nation where non-Polish minority comprised over one third of the citizenry. Nevertheless, the Poles saw the Greek Catholic Galicia Ukrainians as even less reliable and loyal as the Orthodox Volhynia Ukrainians. Also, despite the communion with Rome, the UGCC attained a strong Ukrainian national character of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and the Polish authorities sought to weaken it in various ways. In 1924, following a visit with the Ukrainian Catholic believers in North America and western Europe, the head of the UGCC was initially denied reentry to Lviv until after a considerable delay. Polish priests led by their bishops began to undertake missionary work among Eastern Rite faithful, and the administrative restrictions were placed on the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.<ref name=Magosci>{{cite book| author=Magosci, P. | title=Morality and Reality: the Life and Times of Andrei Sheptytsky| location= Edmonton, Alberta | publisher= Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta | year = 1989| }}</ref>
With respect to the Orthodox Ukrainian population in eastern Poland, the [[Polish government]] initially issued a decree defending the rights of the Orthodox minorities. In practice, this often failed, as the [[Catholics]], also eager to strengthen their position, had stronger representation in the [[Sejm]] and the courts. Any accusation was strong enough for a particular church to be confiscated and handed over to the Roman Catholic church{{fact|date=February 2007}}. During the Polish rule, 190 Orthodox churches were destroyed (although some of them have already been abandoned<ref name="BP">''The Impact of External Threat on States and Domestic Societie'', [[Manus I. Midlarsky]] in ''Dissolving Boundaries'', Blackwell Publishers, 2003, ISBN 1-4051-2134-3, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1405121343&id=epmK6bwLECsC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=Pilsudski+minorities&sig=fkXmB17kQd7kVMeCO0aeRFfxZS4 Google Print, p.15]</ref>) and 150 were forcibly transformed into Roman Catholic (not Ukrainian Catholic) churches.<ref name=Subtelny>{{cite book| author=Subtelny, O. | title=Ukraine: A History| location= Toronto | publisher= University of Toronto Press | year = 1988| }}</ref> Such actions were condemned by the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, metropolitan [[Andrei Sheptytsky]], who claimed that these acts would "destroy in the souls of our non-united Orthodox brothers the very thought of any possibility of reunion."<ref name=Magosci>{{cite book| author=Magosci, P. | title=Morality and Reality: the Life and Times of Andrei Sheptytsky| location= Edmonton, Alberta | publisher= Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta | year = 1989| }}</ref>
In addition to persecution from the new authorities, the Orthodox clergy found itself with no ecclesiastical link to submit to. Like most ex-[[Russian Orthodox]] communities that ended up outside the USSR, and thus with no possible contact with the persecuted mother church, the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]] agreed to take over [[Moscow Patriarchate]]'s role and in [[1923]] the [[Polish Orthodox Church]] was formed out of the parishes that were on the territory of the Polish republic although 90% of its clergy and believers were non-Polish people.
===Czechoslovakia===
The redrawal of national boundaries following [[World War I]] also affected yet another ethnically Ruthenian territory. In [[1918]], the country of [[Czechoslovakia]] was formed, the nation included several minorities. In the easternmost end of the country, [[Transcarpathia]] lived the [[Rusyn]] population. For most of their history they were ruled by the Hungarians, who unlike the Austrians ruling [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] were quite active in opposing Ukrainophile sentiments. Instead, the Hungarians supported a Rusyn identity (separate from either a pro-Ukrainian or pro-Russian orientation) through pro-Hungarian priests in an effort to separate the Ruthenian people under their rule from their brethren across the mountains.<ref name=Subtelny>{{cite book| author=Subtelny, O. | title=Ukraine: A History| location= Toronto | publisher= University of Toronto Press | year = 1988| }}</ref> Thus despite being Uniate at the time of the formation of Czechoslovakia, the population was about evenly divided between Rusynophile, Ukrainophile and Russophile orientation. The general Russophilic sentiment was very strong amongst them, and these cultural and political orientation impacted the local religious communities. Even before the first world war already quite a lot of distant mountain communities were de facto Orthodox, where priests simply ceased to follow the Uniate canons. However, much more significant changes took place in the interwar period.
In the [[1920]]s many Russian emigres, particularly Orthodox clergy, settled in [[Serbia]]. Loyal to the Orthodox state, they became actively involved in missionary work in central Europe. A group, headed by Bishop Dosifei went to Transcarpathia. Because of the historical links between the local Greek Catholic clergy to the disliked Hungarian authorities, mass conversions to the Orthodox Church occurred. By the start of the [[Second World War]], approximately one third of all of the [[Rusyn]] population reverted to Orthodoxy [http://www.rusyn.org/?root=rusyns&rusyns=religion&article=94]. The region's local Hungarian population, estimated at slightly less than 20% of the population, remained overwhelmingly Calvinist or Roman Catholic. (For the Ruthenian population left outside Ukraine in 1945 (Preshov territory in Slovakia) see [[Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church]])
===Second World War===
On [[September 17]], [[1939]], with [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|Poland crumbling under the German attack]] that started the [[Second World War]], the [[Red Army]] occupied [[Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union|Poland's eastern territories]], assigning territories with an ethnic Ukrainian majority to [[Soviet Ukraine]]. Since the Ukrainians were by-and-large discontented with Polish rule most of the Orthodox clergy actually welcomed the Soviet troops.
The addition of the ethnic Ukrainian territory of [[Volhynia]] to the USSR created several issues. Having avoided the Bolshevik repression, the Orthodox church of this rural region outnumbered the rest of the [[Ukrainian SSR]] by nearly a thousand churches and clergy as well as many cloisters including the [[Pochayiv Lavra]]. The ecclesiastical link with the [[Moscow Patriarchate]] was immediately restored. Within months nearly a million Orthodox pilgrims, from all over the country, fearing that these reclaimed western parishes would share the fate of others in the [[USSR]], took the chance to visit them. However, the Soviet authorities, although confiscating some of the public property, did not show the repressions of the post-revolutionary period that many expected and no executions or physical destruction took place.
On [[October 8]], [[1942]] Archbishop Nikanor and [[Patriarch Mstyslav (Stepan Skrypnyk)|Bishop Mstyslav]] (later a [[Patriarch]]) of the UAOC and [[Metropolitan Oleksiy (Hromadsky)]] of the [[Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church]] concluded an [[Act of Union]], uniting the two national churches at the [[Pochayiv Lavra]]. Later [[Nazi Germany|German]] occupation authorities and pro-Russian hierarchs of the Autonomous Church convinced Metropolitan Oleksiy to remove his signature. Metropolitan Oleksiy was murdered in [[Volhynia]] on [[May 7]], [[1943]] by the nationalists of the [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]] which saw this as treason.
===Post War Situations===
The Russian Orthodox Church regained its general monopoly in the [[Ukrainian SSR]] after [[World War II]] following another shift in the official Soviet attitude towards Christian churches. As a result many started to accuse it of being a [[puppet]] of the [[Communist Party]]. After the suspicious death of Patriarch Tikhon, the UAOC and UGCC sought to avoid the transfer under the Moscow Patriarchate; something that Moscow tolerated until after World War II, for example the head of the Ukrainian Communist Party, [[Nikita Khruschev]] attended the funeral of the head of the Uniate Church in [[1946]]. Nevertheless as the Uniate Church did in some cases support the Nazi regime, the overall Soviet attitude was negative. In [[1948]] a small group of priests started to proclaim a reunion with Orthodoxy. The Soviet state organized in [[1948]] a synod in [[Lviv]], where the [[1596]] [[Union of Brest]] was annulled. Thereby breaking the canonical ties with [[Catholic see|Rome]] and transferring under the Moscow Patriarchate. In Transcarpathia, the reigning Greek Catholic bishop was murdered[http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/theoromz.htm] and the remaining priests were forced to return their Church to Orthodoxy. This move's acceptance was mixed. With many clergy members and lay believers turning to the ROC, some adamantly refused. As a result of this the Patriarchate of Moscow could now legally lay claim to any Orthodox church property that was within the territory of its uncontested jurisdiction, which it did. Some believers refused to accept liquidation of their churches and for nearly 40 years the UAOC and UGCC existed in Western Ukraine underground lead by the clergy members under the threat of prosecution by the Soviet state. Much of the UGCC and UAOC clergy not willing to serve in the ROC emigrated to [[Germany]], the [[United States]], or [[Canada]]. Others were sent to Siberia and even chose to be martyred [http://www.ugcc.org.ua/eng/press-releases/article;3254/][http://www.risu.org.ua/article.php?l=en&sid=1431]. Officially the Moscow Patriarchate never recognised the canonical right of the synod as it lacked any bishops there.
The relatively permissive post-war government attitude towards the Orthodox Church came to an end with [[Nikita Khruschev]]'s "Thaw" programme, which included closing the recently opened Kiev's Caves Lavra. However, in the west-Ukrainian dioceses, which were the largest in the USSR, the Soviet attitude was "softest". In fact in the western city of Lviv, only one church was closed. The Moscow Patriarchate also relaxed its canons on the clergy, especially those from the former-uniate territories, allowing them, for example to shave beards (a very uncommon Orthodox practice) and conduct eulogy in Ukrainian instead of [[Church Slavonic]].
===Late Soviet period===
In [[1988]] with the millennium anniversary of the baptism of [[Kievan Rus|Rus]], there was yet another shift in the Soviet attitude towards religion, coinciding with the [[Perestroika]] and [[Glasnost]] programmes. The Soviet Government publicly apologized for oppression of religion and promised to return all property to the rightful owners. As a result thousands of closed religious buildings in all areas of the USSR were returned to their original owners. In Ukraine this was the then ROC's [[Ukrainian Exarchate]], which took place in the central, eastern and southern Ukraine. In the former-uniate areas of western Ukraine things were more turbulent. As UGCC survived in diaspora and in the underground they took their chance and were immediately revived in Ukraine, where in the wake of general liberalization of the Soviet policies in the late-1980s also prompted the activization of Ukrainian national political movements. The [[Russian Orthodox Church]] became viewed by some as an attribute of Soviet domination, and bitter, often violent clashes over church buildings followed with the ROC slowly losing its parishes to the UGCC.
The UAOC also followed suit. Sometimes possessors of Church buildings changed several times within days. Although the Soviet law-enforcement did attempt to pacify the almost-warring parties, these were often unsuccessful, as many of the local branches in the ever-crumbling Soviet authority, sympathised with the national sentiments in their areas. Violence grew especially after the UGCC's demand that all property that was held prior to [[1939]] would be returned.
It is now believed that the only real event which helped to contain the growing schism in the former-uniate territories was the ROC's reaction of raising its Ukrainian Exarchate to the status of an [[Autonomous entity|autonomous church]], which took place in [[1990]], and up until the [[History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)|break up of the USSR]] in late [[1991]] there was an uneasy peace in western Ukraine. After the nation became independent, the question of an independent and an [[autocephalous]] Orthodox Church arose once again.
===Post-Soviet period===
What historians now see as the reason for the following events was the decision of the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine [[Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko)|Filaret]] to achieve total [[autocephaly]] (independence) of his [[metropolitan see]] with or without the approval of the [[mother church]] required by the [[canon law]]. These events followed Filaret's own unsuccessful attempt to gain a seat of the [[Moscow Patriarch]] to himself ([[1990]]) and the Ukrainian independence following the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]] in August, 1991. In November 1991, Metropolitan Filaret requested the hierarchy of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] to grant the Ukrainian Orthodox Church autocephalous status. The skeptical hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church called for a full Synodical council (Sobor) where this issue would have been discussed at length. Filaret, using his support from the old friendship ties with the then newly elected [[President of Ukraine]] ([[Leonid Kravchuk]]), convinced him that a new independent government should have its own independent church. Despite the UAOC lacked any significant following outside [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]], Filaret was able to organise a covert communion with the UAOC in case [[Moscow Patriarchate]] refused.
At the synod in March-April of [[1992]], however, most of the clergy of the UOC who initially supported Filaret, openly criticised this move, and put most of the other bishops against him. Questions of his unpopular disregard to [[monastic vows]] (having a [[common-law wife]]) as well as the allegations of improper financial dealings with the church finances made the council vote for Filaret to retire from his position which was confirmed by a sworn oath.
Upon returning to [[Kiev]] Filaret carried out his reserve option revealing that the retirement swore was given under pressure and that he is not resigning. The Ukrainian president [[Leonid Kravchuk]] gave Filaret his support as did the [[UNA-UNSO|nationalist Paramilitaries]], in retaining his rank. In a crisis moment the Hierarchical Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, agreed to another [[synod]] which met in May 1992. The council was conducted in the eastern city of [[Kharkiv]] where the majority of the bishops voted to suspend Filaret from his clerical functioning. Simultaneously they elected a new leader [[Metropolitan Volodymyr (Viktor Sabodan)]], native of the [[Khmelnytskyi Oblast]] and a former Patriarchal Exarch to [[Western Europe]].
With only three bishops remaining at his support Filaret initiated the unification with the UAOC, and in June 1992 creating a new [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate]] (UOC-KP) with 94-year-old [[Patriarch Mstyslav]] as a leader. While chosen as his assistant, Filaret was de-facto ruling the Church. A few of the Autocephalous [[bishop]]s and clergy who opposed such situation refused to join the new Church and following the death of Mstyslav a year later. The church was once again ripped apart by a schism and most of the UAOC parishes were regained when the churches re-separated in July [[1993]].
Most of the fate of control of church buildings was decided by the church parishes, but as most refused to follow Filaret, paramilitaries, especially in [[Volyn Oblast|Volyn]] and [[Rivne Oblast|Rivne]] Oblasts where there was strong nationalist sympathy amongst the new regional authorities, carried out raids bringing property under their control. The lack of parishes in eastern and southern Ukraine prompted President Kravchuk to intervene and force the still closed buildings since the Communist times to re-open under the UOC-KP's ownership. Upon the 1995 election of [[Leonid Kuchma]], most of the violence was promptly stopped, and the presidency adopted a de-facto neutrality regime to all the four major church groups.
==Modern Times==
[[Image:Filaret and volodymyr.jpg|thumb|200px|Currently, two Ukrainian Orthodox Churches primarily compete to represent an all-Ukrainian local church. A rare image of their first hierarchs pictured together, [[Metropolitan Volodymyr (Viktor Sabodan)|Metropolitan Volodymyr]] (right) of the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]] and [[Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko)|Patriarch Filaret]] of the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate]].]]
The recent events of the [[2004 Ukrainian presidential election]] and the [[Orange Revolution]] affected the religious affairs in the nation as well. The UOC (MP) actively supported the former Prime minister [[Viktor Yanukovych]] while members of the UOC-KP, UAOC, and UGCC supported the opposition candidate [[Viktor Yushchenko]], who was running against him. After Yushchenko's victory, the UOC (MP) criticised him for what they see as support of the "uncanonical organisations", such as his celebrating Orthodox Christmas in [[St. Volodymyr's Cathedral]] (owned by UOC-KP). Yushchenko himself has publicly pledged to distance himself from Orthodox politics during his presidential campaign. Nonetheless, he claims that his intention is to achieve a unity of the nation's Eastern Orthodox Church affairs. Questions still arise on what will be the ecclestical status of the Church and who will head it, and as of February 2007 no public dialogue has began.
To date the issue between rivalries of different churches remains politicised and sensitive and also controversial. In a recent survey only 33.3% of the people felt satisfied with the current condition of several Orthodox Churches. At the same time up to 42.1% felt it would be important for a single united church, with 30.7% favoring the UOC-KP and 11.4% the UOC (MP). On the question of who shall head the church the political polarisation of the country surfaced with 56.1% of voters of Our Ukraine and 40.7% of voters from the Bloc Yulia Timoshenko endorsed wanting one Orthodox Church under the Kiev Patriarchate<ref>[http://obozrevatel.com/news/2007/1/24/153223.htm У Московського Патріархату - серйозні проблеми в Україні - Обозреватель<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
In any case the main religious groups are presented below:
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Statisticukrchurch.gif|thumb|left|300px|Religious breakdown of Ukrainian parishes by regions]] -->
===[[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]]===
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church or UOC, sometimes abbreveated as UOC(MP)<!--There is a reason why its UOC(MP) NOT UOC-MP-->, operates as an [[Autonomy (Eastern Christianity)|autonomous]] church under the [[Moscow Patriarchate]] and is also the only Orthodox denomination canonically recognised within the [[Eastern Orthodox Communion]]. The head of the church is [[Metropolitan Volodymyr (Viktor Sabodan)|Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan)]] who was enthroned in spring [[1992]] as the ''"Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine"''. The UOC(MP) is currently the largest religious body in Ukraine with the greatest number of parishes churches and communities counting up to half of the total in Ukraine and totaling over 10 thousand. The church also claims to have up to 75% of the Ukrainian population<ref>Pravoslvieye v Uraine [http://orthodox.org.ua/uk/node/197 Retrieved on 10 February 2007]</ref> although independent survey results vary widely both from this figure, as well as from survey to survey as many Orthodox Ukrainians do not clearly self-identify with a particular denomination and, sometimes, are even unaware of the affiliation of the church they attend as well as of the controversy itself, which indicates the impossibility to use the survey numbers as an indicator of a relative strength of the church. Also, the geographical factor plays a major role in the number of adherents, as the Ukrainian population tends to be more churchgoing in the western part of the country rather than in the UOC (MP)'s heartland in southern and eastern Ukraine.
The number of parishes statistics seems to be much more reliable and consistent even though it may not necessarily directly translate into the numbers of adherents. By number of parishes and quantity of church buildings, the UOC(MP)'s strong base is central and northernwestern Ukraine. However, percentage wise (with respect to rival Orthodox Churches) its share of parishes there varies from 60 to 70 percent. At the same time, by percentage alone (with respect to rival Orthodox Churches) the urban russophone southern and eastern Ukrainian provinces peak with up to 90% of church buildings. The same can be said about [[Transcarpathia]], although there the UOC's main rival is the Greek Catholic Church and thus in all its share is only 40%. The capital [[Kiev]] is where the greatest Orthodox rivalry takes place, there the UOC(MP) has only half of the Orthodox communities. The only place where the UOC(MP) is a true minority, in both quantity, percentage and support are the former Galician provinces of Western Ukraine. There the total share of parishes does not exceed more than five percent. The UOC(MP) does not have any parishes abroad, as its followers identify themselves under the same umbrella as those of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].
===[[Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate]]===
Abbreveated as the UOC-KP, the church was created in [[1992]], and aims at becoming a Ukrainian national Orthodox Church. However, it is [[canon law|canonicaly]] unrecognised amongst other [[Eastern Orthodox church organization|Eastern Orthodox churches]].
Since [[1995]] UOC-KP is headed by [[Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko)]] who until [[1990]] was a ''Metropolitan of Kiev and Halych (Galich)'' under the ROC, which [[defrock]]ed him in [[1992]] and [[excommunicate]]d in [[1997]] "for schismatic activities".
Geographically the church's main areas of support are the Volhynian districts (where it holds from 30 to 40% parishes) and the capital [[Kiev]]. The church enjoys moderate support in the central and Galician provinces (ranging from 15 to 30 percent). The church also contains several parishes in the West (including eleven in the USA, 2 in Australia) and even in Russia, where it has agreed to incorporate some of the parishes that have been [[excommunicate]]d by the ROC for infractions of canonic law.
===[[Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church]]===
Abbreviated as the UAOC, the church was established and re-established several times in Ukraine. Originally formed in the 1920s, and initially supported by the Soviet regime, in early 1930s it was destroyed and forced into exile. The Church re-established itself in Ukraine during the Nazi occupation in [[World War II]], and was again driven underground after the War. The church re-gained official recognition in the late [[1980s]], and was initially ruled from abroad by [[Patriarch Mstyslav]]. Following his death in [[1993]] it was re-organised into an independent church, after a brief union with the UOC-KP. Since then the church has been more successful in dialogue with the UOC(MP).<ref>Interview with Archbishop Ioan (Modzalevsky), [http://orthodoxy.org.ua/uk/mejkonfessionalnyy_dialog/2007/03/13/6390.html «Я - відвертий та давній прихильник порозуміння між УАПЦ та УПЦ».]</ref>
The church currently has 1015 parishes in 697 churches. Geographically the church operates almost exclusively in the western areas with minute support elsewhere. The UAOC had many parishes in the Ukrainian diaspora communities in Canada and in the United States. These have, however, formed two separate churches: the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada]] and [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA]]. In 1995 the [[Ecumenical Patriarch]] accepted the latter churches under his patronage citing the transfer controversy of the Kiev Metropolitan's see to [[Moscow Patriarchate]] in 1686 and, thus, fulfilling a necessary step for the achievement of the canonical standing by these diaspora Churches (still not universally recognised). While this move, as well as the cited reason, soured relations between the [[Orthodox Church of Constantinople]] and the ROC (who refused to recognise it), the standing of the diaspora churches does not affect the status of the UAOC itself.
===[[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]]===
Abbreviated as the UGCC, and originally formed from the [[Union of Brest]] in 1596. The Church was outlawed by the Soviet regime in 1948 but continued to exist in the Ukrainian underground and in the Western Ukrainian diaspora. It was officially re-established in Ukraine in [[1989]]. In 1991, [[Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky|Cardinal Lubachivsky]] returned to Lviv from emigration. Since [[2001]] UGCC has been headed by [[Major Archbishop]] and [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Lubomyr Husar]].
Currently the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church has 3317 parishes which makes it the third largest denomination in Ukraine<ref>[http://www.ugcc.org.ua/ukr/church/catholics/ Ukrainian Catholic churches in Ukraine (in Ukrainian)]</ref>. Geographically, the Church's parishes were previously confined to the Western provinces of [[Lviv Oblast|Lviv]], [[Ternopil Oblast|Ternopil]] and [[Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast|Ivano-Frankivsk]], where it has the most parishes of any Church and where its share of parishes ranges from 47% to 64%. The UGCC is also found in the neighboring [[Lemko]] areas in [[Poland]]. Numerous surveys conducted since the late 1990s consistently show that between 6% and 8% of Ukraine's population, or 9.4% to 12.6% of religious believers, identify themselves as belonging to this Church.<Ref>[http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;2964/] [http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;13940] [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/up.html]</ref> In addition, the church has mass parishes abroad in the North American continent, South America, and Australia.
In recent times parishes have been established in many Eastern Ukrainian cities <ref>[http://www.ugcc.org.ua/ukr/church_in_action/bishops/ Eparchies in Ukraine (in Ukrainian)]</ref> such as Kharkiv, Donetsk, in the south in Odessa and Yalta and also in Russia.<ref>[http://www.ugcc-in-russia.narod.ru/ Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Russia site (in Ukrainian)]</ref> with parishes being set up in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Cheliabinsk, Tomsk, and other cities. These parishes have been formed primarily by resettled Ukrainians from Western Ukraine.<!---COMMENTING OUT STRANGE AND UNREFED STATEMENT, to there are Orthodox churches that conduct liturgy in Ukrainian, no need to go to GC just for that--- but have also been attracting many Orthodox believers who desire to hear the liturgy in Ukrainian.--->
One of the largest religious controversies in Ukraine recently involved having the almost exclusively western Ukraine-based UGCC move its administrative centre from [[Lviv]] to [[Kiev]] whilst its new cathedral's construction was sponsored by the first lady, [[Kateryna Yushchenko-Chumachenko]]. This move was criticised not only by the UOC(MP), but also by the whole Eastern Orthodox Communion.
==Other Christian groups in Ukraine==
===Roman Catholicism===
{{main|Roman Catholicism in Ukraine}}
Roman Catholicism is predominantly practiced by non-Ukrainian minorities, in particular [[Poles]] and [[Hungarians]]. Originally holding a large amount of parishes, most of the churches remained empty after [[World War II]] which is attributed due to the fact that much of the Polish population (once a significant minority, especially in the west of modern-day Ukraine) was killed in the war and the [[Massacre of Poles in Volhynia|interethnic violence]] that occurred during the war as well as were subject to [[Population transfers in the Soviet Union|forcible evacuations and deportations]].
After the restoration of [[Soviet power]] in Western Ukraine since 1944, many catholic churches and monasteries were compulsively closed and clergymen persecuted.<ref name="RISU-RC">[http://www.risu.org.ua/ukr/major.religions/rkc/ Roman Catholicism in Ukraine, RISU Portal, in Ukrainian]</ref>
In 1991, [[Pope John Paul II]] officially restored the activities of Roman Catholic Dioceses in Ukraine and appointed bishops.<ref name="RISU-RC">[http://www.risu.org.ua/ukr/major.religions/rkc/ Roman Catholicism in Ukraine, RISU Portal, in Ukrainian]</ref>
Currently the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine has 807 parishes in 713 churches <ref>[http://www.ugcc.org.ua/ukr/church/catholics/m Roman Catholic church in Ukraine statistics (in Ukrainian)]</ref>.
===[[Ruthenian Catholic Church|Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church]]===
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Byzantine rite Catholic church in [[Zakarpattya Oblast|Transcarpathia]] emerged from the underground and was restored as a separate entity from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church based in [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]]. This was done despite the protests by a portion of the Church members led by the bishop of Khust who demanded to be integrated into the [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]].<ref>http://www.rusyn.org/?root=rusyns&rusyns=religion&article=94</ref> Despite this revival, unlike its [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church|sister Church in Galicia]], the Ruthenian Byzantine rite Catholic Church has not regained its pre-war position as the dominant Church in Transcarpathia. It currently has about 23% of Transcarpathia's parishes, slightly less than 60% of the Orthodox total there.<ref>[http://www.risu.org.ua/content.php?page_id=167&l=en] </ref> Its traditional base is the [[Rusyns|Rusyn]] (Ruthenian) ethnic minority in Transcarpathia.
===[[Old Believers]]===
Traditionally the Ukrainian clergy, following the annexation of Kievan Metropolia, were one of the main sources of opposition to the Old Believer schism which took place at the time, under [[Patriarch Nikon]]. None of the Ukrainian parishes followed the [[Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church]]. Although in [[1905]] the Tsar's decree on freedom of religion allowed the Old Believer church to reform, it gained little support in Ukraine. Presentely, however the Old Believer community very much exploited the politicised schism in Ukrainian Orthodoxy and, as of 2004, number 53 communities scattered throughout Ukraine, with one of the biggest in [[Vylkove]].<ref>[http://www.starovery.ru/pravda/nzd.php?cid=81 На злобу дня<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
=== Protestantism in Ukraine ===
{{main|Protestants in Ukraine}}
In the 16th century small groups of [[Anabaptists]] appeared in [[Volodymyr-Volynskyi]], but the influence of the [[Reformation]] in Ukraine remained marginal until the three centuries later.
[[Protestantism]] arrived to Ukraine together with German immigrants in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were initially granted religious freedom by the Russian Imperial authorities, unlike the native population. While some were Roman Catholic, the majority were either Evangelical (in North America known as Lutheran) or Mennonite (Anabaptist). Of the 200,000 or so Germans in Volhynia c.1900, some 90% or so were Lutheran. Lutheranism went into a major decline with the emigration of most of the Germans out of the region during the World Wars but there are still small remnants today (2006) in the Odessa and Kiev regions.
One of earliest Protestant groups in Ukraine were [[Stundists]] (the name originated from the German ''Stunde'', "hour") German Evangelical sect that spread from German villages in [[Bessarabia]] and [[Dnipropetrovsk Oblast|Ekaterinoslav province]] to the neighbouring Ukrainian population. Protestantism in Ukraine rapidly grew during the liberal reforms of [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] in the 1860s. However, towards the end of the century authorities started to restrict Protestant [[proselytism]] of the Orthodox Christians, especially by the Studistis, routinely preventing prayer meetings and other activities. At the same time [[Baptists]], another major Protestant group that was growing in Ukraine, were treated less harshly due to their powerful international connections.
In the early 20th century, [[Volyn]] became the main centre of the spread of Protestantism in Ukraine. During the Soviet period Protestantism, together with Orthodox Christianity, was persecuted in Ukraine, but the 1980s marked the start of another major expansion of Protestant proselytism in Ukraine.
Today largest Protestant groups in Ukraine include Baptists (All-Ukrainian Union of the Association of Evangelical Baptists), [[Pentecostals]] (All-Ukrainian Union of Christians of the Evangelical Faith-Pentecostals) and [[Seventh-day Adventists]] (Ukrainian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists). Of note is [[Hillsong Kiev|Hillsong Church]] in Kiev. One of the most prominent Protestants in modern Ukraine is the practicing baptist pastor [[Oleksander Turchinov]], after the [[Orange Revolution]] the head of the [[Security Service of Ukraine|SBU]], Ukraine's successor to the [[KGB]]. Despite the rapid growth, today Protestants in Ukraine remain a small minority in a largely Orthodox Christian country.
==See also==
{{Ukraine topics}}
==References==
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags-->
<div class='references-small'>
;'''Inline:'''
<references/>
;'''General:'''
*{{en icon}}[http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/religion.and.society/chernomorec/ ''Yuriy Chernomorets.'' The Destiny of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the Beginning of the 21st Century]
*{{ru icon}}''Yuriy Chernomorets.'' "Social base of the Ukrainian orthodoxy", March 2005, [http://www.risu.org.ua/rus/religion.and.society/chernomorec_socbaza/ ''Yuriy Chernomorets.'' "Social base of the Ukrainian orthodoxy", March 2005]
*{{ru icon}}''Orhodox Encyclopedia'' Published by the Russian Orthodox Church[http://ezh.sedmitza.ru/index.html?sid=45]
*{{ru icon}} Vadim Petrushko ''Autocephaleous schisms in Ukraine in 1989-1997.'' [http://www.krotov.info/history/20/1997petr.html]
*{{uk icon}} [[Ivan Ohienko]], [http://litopys.org.ua/ohienko/oh.htm Essays on the history of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church]
*{{uk icon}} [http://obozrevatel.com/news_print/2005/12/13/70043.htm Holly Filaret Vs. Blessed Volodymyr = Kiev Vs. Moscow]
*Articles in Ukrainian weekly newspaper [[Zerkalo Nedeli]] (Mirror Weekly):
**{{en icon}}{{uk icon}}/{{ru icon}} [http://www.mirror-weekly.com/ie/show/583/52500/ Giants of churchbuilding], February 4-10, 2006
**{{uk icon}}/{{ru icon}} "Ukrainian Mission and its Messiahs", July 2005, [http://www.zn.kiev.ua/ie/show/555/50649/ in Ukrainian] and [http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/ie/show/555/50649/ in Russian]
**{{uk icon}}/{{ru icon}}"You can't prohibit dreaming. But can you force it?", April, 2005, [http://www.zn.kiev.ua/ie/show/539/49565/ in Ukrainian] and [http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/ie/show/539/49565/ in Russian]
**{{uk icon}}/{{ru icon}}"A church is hostage", February 2004 [http://www.zn.kiev.ua/ie/show/482/45604/ in Ukrainian] and [http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/ie/show/482/45604/ in Russian]
**{{uk icon}}/{{ru icon}}"A chessboard of religious affairs", April 2003 [http://www.zn.kiev.ua/ie/show/437/38081/ in Ukrainian] and [http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/ie/show/437/38081/ in Russian]
</div>
== External links ==
*General:
**[http://www.derzhkomrelig.gov.ua/ State Department of Ukraine on Religious Issues] {{uk icon}} - official site
**[http://www.risu.org.ua/eng?l=en Religious Information Service of Ukraine] {{en icon}}/{{uk icon}}/{{ru icon}} - a project of the Institute of Religion and Society of the [http://www.ucu.edu.ua/ Ukrainian Catholic University]
**[http://www.orthodoxy.org.ua/ Orthodoxy Page (Moscow Patriarchate)] {{uk icon}}/{{ru icon}}
**[http://ukrbs.org/ukr/index.php Ukrainian Bible Society]{{uk icon}}
**[http://www.stvladimir.ca/ Saint Vladimir Institute in Toronto]{{en icon}}
*Churches:
**[http://www.orthodox.org.ua/ Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)] {{uk icon}}/{{ru icon}}
**[http://www.cerkva.info/ Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate] {{uk icon}}
**[http://www.uapc.org.ua/English%20version/ Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church] {{en icon}}/{{uk icon}}
**[http://www.ugcc.org.ua/eng Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church] {{en icon}}/{{uk icon}}/{{ru icon}}
**[http://www.rkc.lviv.ua/ Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine]{{en icon}}/{{uk icon}}
**[http://www.risu.org.ua/content.php?page_id=60&l=en/ Lutherans in Ukraine]
**[http://www.odessa3.org/collections/stpete/ Lutheran Church records extraction 1835-1885]
**[http://www.ukrainian-orthodoxy.org/ Ukrainian Orthodoxy in Canada]{{en icon}}/{{fr icon}}
**[http://www.uocc.ca/ Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada Official Page]{{en icon}}
**[http://www.baptist.org.ua/english/index.html Baptists in Ukraine]{{en icon}}/{{ru icon}}
{{Christianity in Europe}}
{{Ukraine topics|state=collapsed}}
<!--The current divided and fluid situation traces its roots to the close connection between Orthodox church and the state in [[Tsarist Russia]] after the transfer of the Kiev Metropolitan [[Episcopal see|see]] from the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]] to the Patriarch of Moscow in [[1686]]. Some clerics and church historians, particularly in Ukraine, do not consider this transfer legitimate and claim it was implemented via the ecclesiastic crime of [[bribery]] by the Russian Church, itself elevated to patriarchal status a hundred years prior to the transfer, but eventually accepted under pressure from the [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] [[Sultan]]. This development, they claim, resulted in a forced policy of [[Russification]] of Ukrainian Christianity. Gradually Russophile Orthodox clergy during the 18th and 19th centuries became dominant in Ukraine. Despite the fact that the transfer was and still is occasionally questioned in Ukraine, it gained a de-facto recognition and acceptance in the [[Eastern Orthodox communion]] by 300+ years of Ukrainian Orthodoxy remaining in the see of the Patriarch of Moscow.-->
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox churches]]
[[Category:Christianity in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Christian history by geography or ethnicity|Ukraine]]
[[fr:Église de Kiev et de toute la Rus']]
[[uk:Історія християнства в Україні (хронологічна таблиця)]]